Recipe Recovery: Chicken Sausage and Bean Stew

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What do you when you don’t have all the ingredients necessary to make your favorite dish?  You improvise and do what I call a Recipe Recovery.

Like many moms, I plan our week’s menu every Sunday and then restock our fridge and pantry with grocery items needed to complete our menu.  Usually, our fridge is full of garlic bulbs and Spanish onions because they are the key ingredients in so many of our favorite dishes.

With the weather being so cold here in Florida which is anything below 60 degrees (Hey, we’re spoiled!), soup is always on the menu.  One of my family’s favorite soups is Chicken Sausage and Bean Stew, which was introduced to me by Maris of In Good Taste.

But when I started to sauté my sausage for the soup, I realized there were no Spanish onions in my fridge.  I had forgotten to buy them this week.  Fortunately, I found a red onion and figured it would work and perhaps give the soup a new and interesting flavor.

When I served the soup to my family, everyone ate it happily as usual and no one was the wiser, except for Iron Chef Allan.  He knew something tasted different about it, but couldn’t put his finger (or tongue) on it.  He still enjoyed it, though.  The girls always eat their stew with grated Parmesan cheese and I believe the snowy mountain of Parmesan cheese masked my recipe recovery.

As for the recipe, I’ve modified Maris’ a bit since I first discovered it two years ago.  For one, I’ve omitted the marjoram because I don’t care for the taste of it.  I also prefer Al Fresco Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage because their products do not contain any MSG or nitrates.  These links are typically found in the hot dog section of your local supermarket.

Chicken Sausage and Bean Stew

Ingredients:
2 Cans Cannellini Beans
1 Package Al Fresco Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage
2 Tbsp Olive Oil (use more or less, depending on your pan)
1 Large Spanish Onion, chopped
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can petite dice tomatoes with juice
1 tsp Oregano
2 cups Chicken Broth
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Fresh Grated Parmesan (optional)

Directions:

Place 2 cans cannellini beans into colander placed in the sink. Rinse well with cold water, until no more foam appears. Let drain.

While beans are draining cut sausage into half lengthwise, then cut into half-moon shaped slices. Heat olive oil in stock pot, then sauté sausage until well browned.   When sausage is well-browned, remove to bowl.  Add chopped onion to pot and sauté until onion is translucent and soft.  Then, add garlic and sauté with onions about 2 minutes more.

Add tomatoes and juice, dried oregano and chicken stock to pot with onions and garlic. Add sausage back to pot and cook at very low simmer for 30 minutes, until flavors are well blended.  After 30 minutes, add drained beans and simmer for 15 minutes more.

After the beans have simmered for 15 minutes, add chopped basil and balsamic vinegar and simmer for 5 minutes more.  Add salt and fresh ground black pepper as desired.

Serve stew with freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

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About the author

Denise
From start to finish, Denise is Run DMT, a Tampa Bay homeschooling mom on the run trying to maintain an easy pace through it all between races and raising three beautiful, brilliant adultish kids (ages 23, 19, 14). In 2007, I discovered a passion for running and in February 2015, I completed my tenth marathon. I continue to train for a variety of races and even host annual 5K. In 2023, I became a certified group fitness instructor and teach P.E. in my homeschool co-op.

17 comments

  2. Nancy's Daily Dish says:

    This sounds so good, especially on a cold, winters day. It’s a must try, for me!

    Thanks so much for inviting me over. I linked my baked fudge and will probably link another recipe too.

    Have a great weekend!

    Nancy

  4. kirsty815 says:

    Mum was raving about it! Looks fab! Think I will have to try this next week! Oh and I love the Fresco Chicken Sausage especially the apple ones! Yum!

  5. OfeliaNJ says:

    I have to read up on Iron Chef Allan, noticing “something different” but not being able to pinpoint the exact change must have driven him CRAZY. I like that the recipe uses chicken sausage, I know Al Fresco makes a variety of flavors. Adding those to my grocery list.

  7. JamericanSpice says:

    Because I have nothing for dinner I”m going to do a version of this soup! 🙂

    Thank you for sharing your num num.

    Very nice presentation.

    Oh and of course you can come away with me to my country and gorge on the food! Your palate would never be the same!

  13. Teresa says:

    Now that really looks warming. I could have used a bowl last week when it snowed. I guess substitutions are how fabulous new recipes are discovered!

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