Italian Braised Escarole and Beans with Sausage

5 from 2 votes

A classic Italian American dish of braised escarole greens and white beans. Adding sausage makes it a cheap, sustaining meal. Makes 6-8 servings and improves with time. Adapted from a recipe by Chef Lenny Russo.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Bean Soaking Time8

Total Time8 25

Course: Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian, Italian American

Servings: servings

Calories: 371kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 10

Equipment

1 10 inch wide saute pan with high sides or a Dutch oven
1 wooden spoon
1 chefs knife
1 2 quart mixing bowl for soaking the beans
1 3-4 quart saucepot for cooking the beans

Ingredients

White Beans

12 oz (2 cups) Dried cannellini or great northern beans
2 Medium Carrots peeled and cut in half
1 Medium Yellow onion Studded with 10 cloves
2 Dried Bay leaves
½ Teaspoon Kosher salt

Braised Escarole and Beans

1 Large clove Garlic
2 TBSP Olive oil light olive oil
2 Cups Chicken stock preferably homemade
10 oz Escarole, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 large head *see note
12 oz Mild Italian Sausage roughly 3 large links, or use bulk sausage
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Slices of toasted Italian bread or sourdough for serving, optional

Instructions

Beans

Cover the beans with twice their volume of water and soak for 8 hours or overnight.
Drain the beans and put them in a pot with the carrots, bay leaves, salt, garlic and clove-studded onion.
Add water to cover the beans by a few inches, bring to a simmer and cook until tender. From here the beans can be made up to a few days ahead of time.

Escarole and Beans

Trim the stem from the escarole and remove the leaves. Lay 2-3 leaves on top of each other and cut into 1 inch squares. Wash the escarole in cold water, spin dry or lay out on a towel and reserve.
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Brown the sausage in a teaspoon of the oil, flip and bake in the oven until just cooked through (about 5 minutes). Remove the sausage to cool, then halve the long way and slice into ½ inch half-moons.
Add the garlic and remaining oil to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until aromatic and no longer raw, without letting it brown (about 1-2 minutes).
Add the escarole, stir to stop the garlic from over cooking and sweat for 2-3 minutes.
Add the chicken broth, beans, sausage if using, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cover and simmer until the greens are tender and taste good to you (5-10 minutes).
Serve the stewed greens and beans in warmed soup bowls garnished with fresh grated parmesan cheese, fresh cracked black pepper, extra virgin olive oil and a slice of crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Video

Notes

Escarole and Bean Soup

To make the dish into a soup, sweat 3 oz each diced carrot, onion and celery before adding the garlic and add 5 cups of chicken stock instead of 2. It's great with small pasta added like acini di pepe or macaroni.

If escarole isn't available, rapini, mustard greens or dandelion greens make a good substitute. Keep in mind those greens have longer cooking times. Remove the stems from mustard greens unless they're cooked tender.

Adding chunks of stale bread as for ribollita soup is a great variation.

Nutrition