Categories: Soup

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups dried cannellini beans, soaked in plenty
• of cold water for 12 hours
• 2 bay leaves
• salt
• 8 good sausages
• 2 garlic cloves
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 sage leaves
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Rinse the soaked beans, tip them into a large, heavy pan, add enough cold water to cover them by at least 3 inches, and add the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook until the beans are tender, which should take about 1 hour, but will depend on the age of the beans. Once the beans are cooked, stir in a generous pinch of salt and leave them to cool in their liquid. This can be done the morning or day before.

2. Grill or pan-fry the sausages. Peel and smash the garlic with the back of a knife. In a large frying pan or saute pan, warm the olive oil and cook the garlic and sage leaves until fragrant and golden. Use a slotted spoon to ladle the beans from their cooking water into the pan and stir until the beans are warmed through and coated with oil. Transfer about one-third of the beans from the pan to a bowl, add a couple of tablespoons of their cooking water (save the rest for soup), and either mash them by hand or use an immersion blender to reduce them to a smooth paste, then return them to the pan. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Slice each sausage into 3 pieces, arrange 6 slices on a pile of beans, and serve immediately.

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