Italian Sausage and White Bean Stew

I came across two similar recipes for an Italian Sausage stew the other day and I knew it must be fate. I made a quick dash to the grocery store and made it for dinner that very night!

The first recipe came from a new-t0-me blog called piExperiment. That recipe included zucchini, which I thought sounded good, and red bell peppers, which dh prefers. The second recipe was at A Dash of Sass, another new-to-me blog. Both sounded delicious so I sort of combined the two. I used the zucchini and red bell peppers and I left out the pasta. Be sure to use a good sausage. It realllly makes the dish. I used a sweet Italian sausage but I think next time I'll use a more spicy, hot sausage instead. Served with some crusty whole grain bread, it was a quite a hearty meal. Another plus - it was on the table in under 30 minutes. You gotta like that, especially during this busy time of year!


Italian Sausage and White Bean Stew
Original recipe from A Dash of Sass
Slightly different recipe from PiExperiment

16 ounces sweet Italian turkey sausage
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1 zucchini, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (19 ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian blend spices*
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add enough olive oil to coat the pan. Add red peppers and onion. Saute until soft. Add minced garlic and quickly saute. Be careful to continue stirring to avoid burning the garlic. Add sausage to pepper and onion mixture. Cook until browned and crumbled, approximately 5 to 8 minutes.

Add beans and tomatoes. Add herbs. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until thoroughly cooked through.

Add some fresh basil and grated Parmesan cheese and stir.

Serve topped with more Parmesan cheese.

* Feel free to substitute an Italian blend of spices for the basil and oregano if you don’t have those individually.

Another keeper!

Today seemed almost balmy compared to last week's 5 degree F group run. It was almost 25 degrees this morning! Not quite as warm as it was in Key West where several of our friends are running a half marathon this weekend, but a definite improvement! Still working on getting a little more consistent with running. I ran three days this week. Hopefully I'll be up to five days per week soon. ::sigh::

I have been a little more consistent in fixing dinner even though we've been on the run a lot lately. Last night I fixed Sponge's Mom's Chili, one of the first recipes I ever found online about 12 years ago when we first got AOL. Does anyone know Sponge? Tell his mom thanks! ;-)

After catching a bit of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals show this week, I decided to make Smoky Sweet Potato Chicken Stoup. It's a thick Stew-Soup with plenty of veggies and chunks of chicken, jazzed up with the addition of canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Chopping took a little bit of time but otherwise this dish was simple to prepare. It did seem to need to cook a bit longer to reduce a bit so I don't think we made it under the 30-minute wire. Pretty tasty with a little zip, I'll likely be making this again!


Smoky Sweet Potato Chicken Stoup


2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled
2 ribs celery
1 large onion, peeled and halved
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 chipotle chili in adobo, finely chopped, plus a spoon of sauce from the can (1 to 2)
Salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon dry thyme, eyeball it
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine, eyeball it
5 cups chicken stock
1 large sweet potato
3/4 pound chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces (3/4 to 1)
4 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, a generous handful, roughly chopped
1/2 cup sour cream, for garnish, optional


Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 turns of the pan.

While soup pot heats, chop carrots in half lengthwise then slice into thin half moons. Add the carrots to the pot while it heats, stirring to coat the carrots in the oil. Chop and drop in celery and onion, chopping as small as you can, but don't make yourself crazy.. Add the garlic, chipotle, and adobo sauce and stir to combine. Season the veggies with salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook the veggies together 1 minute. Add the wine and reduce a minute. Add the stock to the pot, cover the pot, and raise heat to high. Bring the stoup to a boil, remove the cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into quarters lengthwise, then thinly slice into bite size pieces. Add the cut chicken and sweet potatoes and simmer 5 minutes until sweet potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through. Turn the heat off and add the scallions and cilantro. Serve each portion of stoup with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Sriracha ... a very good thing!

It's a rest day tomorrow. I'm planning a long run tomorrow. I'm thinking 7 or 8 miles but we'll see what the day brings. The group is running early in the morning but I'm thinking it might be nice to sleep in, even if I have to run by myself later on!

I tried a new recipe tonight and I have to say I'm pleasantly suprised. I knew dh would like it but I didn't expect that I'd love it. LOL! I happened across a really great blog the other day called Table for Two. It's now one of my favorites. I spent way too much time yesterday browsing through all the recipes trying to decide which one I'd make first! The winner was Mr. Wonderful's Comfort Stew. It's an incredible concoction of kielbasa, potatoes, beans and diced tomatoes with a smoky and spicy gravy flavored with cumin and Sriracha, an Asian garlic-chili sauce that added a tasty zing to the stew. It was quick and easy to make as well as delicious. Definitely a keeper.

Mr Wonderful's Comfort Stew

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 package kielbasa, sliced lengthwise and then cut into 1/2" slices
2 potatoes, cut into about 1 1/2" dice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 cup pork broth (use chicken if you can't find pork)
1 Tablespoon Sriracha
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
salt & pepper
Shredded cheese, for serving
Sour cream, for serving

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the kielbasa and saute until it gets a little golden brown. Add the diced potatoes, season liberally with salt & pepper, and saute for about 5 minutes, until they start to turn golden brown. Add the two cans of beans, the can of tomatoes, the cumin, garlic powder (or fresh garlic; I was just being lazy), the cup of broth and the Sriracha. Add enough water just to cover the stew, and raise the heat up to medium high. When the stew just starts to boil, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the stew has thickened. Taste for seasonings & adjust as needed. Add the cilantro and green onion at the very end.

Ladle into bowls, topping each bowl with cheese and/or sour cream if you like (we added a little dollop of sour cream to each bowl and the cool creamy goodness was the perfect counterpoint to the spicy stew).