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Food for Thought Friday: 6 ingredients, 30 mins to my fav Italian comfort food🥫
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Hi friend! Happy Friday!
I can’t believe I haven’t published this recipe in my newsletter yet, so I am rectifying that today. This is one of my go-to, super easy comfort foods that I used to make ALL the time... but temporarily forgot about for the past 1-2 years (you know how that happens?!). Welp, I am bringing it back to our lives this week!
Before I get to the recipe, I have to tell you about my VERY FAVORITE green (which is recommended for this dish:) Escarole!!
If you’ve been reading for a while, you probably know that I love leafy greens in all forms. I eat some greens just about every day (often twice a day), whether it’s dark greens added to my morning saute bowl, or a salad at night. If I go more than a few days without greens, I crave them. All this to say... the position of "my favorite green" is a special one so if you've never tried or heard of escarole, I hope you'll add it to your mental list of things to try!
Escarole is most commonly used in Italian dishes like Wedding Soup (and Beans & Greens). I’ve mentioned it before in my minestrone soup recipe. Here's what it looks like:
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Escarole is in the chicory family, which also includes radicchio, endive, frisée, and other obscure winter greens that come in the most gorgeous colors like this:
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Chicories tend to be on the bitter side for greens, but escarole has a very mild bitterness and when cooked, I find it to be a little nutty and sweet. I also love the texture of it when it's cooked more than any other green: it is soft while somehow maintaining a kind of freshly-pleasant crunch. That said I also love it raw in salads - and love its versatility to go both ways!
Now, escarole can be a little hard to find - it's in season in the winter so if you're gonna find it, now will be the time! The farmers market is definitely your best bet. I've seen it occasionally at Whole Foods (in Pennsylvania too!) and if you have an Italian grocery store - I'd bet they'd be more likely to stalk it. If you've never bought it before, I'd recommend asking for it because at first glance it might just look like a head of lettuce!
You definitely DO NOT need escarole to make this delicious beans and greens recipe, though! It will be perfectly delicious with any hearty green you have around - kale, chard, spinach, etc, all work well.
This recipe is SUPER simple with very few ingredients, and because of that, I recommend using the best quality ingredients you can find - more on that below. It can be made vegan, vegetarian, or with meat!
I hope you'll try it and enjoy! Recipe below. Happy Friday!
love,
Jess
PS. I'm gonna go warm up my leftovers of this now! Yum!
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Beans & Greens (& Sausage)
Takes about 30 minutes, makes about 4 servings
Recipe Keys:
- Because this recipe has so few ingredients, the quality of the ingredients is especially important! And the two most important ones are the tomatoes and sausage (if you're using it).
- For canned tomatoes, these Bianco DiNapoli are my current favorite - which also corresponds to these fascinating Canned Tomato Rankings in Wirecutter. I have to tell you that when I cooked this yesterday I used Whole Foods Organic Tomatoes... and it did not taste quite as amazing as I remembered it! Based on the reviews (and the fact that I used to always use tomatoes I had canned myself) that is probably why! That said - you should still make it with whatever tomatoes you have, because it's still worth it! Just some food for thought :)
- For sausages, I definitely recommend using raw sausages (and bulk will be easiest if you can find it). Sweet or Spicy Italian Sausage will give you the most classic flavor, although feel free to use any sausage you like here - including lamb or beef or chicken if you don't like pork. That said, whatever sausage you use will be the MAIN flavoring of your dish, so whatever the sausage tastes like, the dish will taste very much like that! So - best to use a sausage you know you like!
Ingredients:
- ~10 cloves of garlic
- 2 cans cannellini beans (or 1.5 cups dry beans, cooked beforehand), can sub other white beans or chickpeas if you wish
- 1 28-oz can + 1 15-oz can tomatoes (crushed or diced San Marzanos are recommended; if using whole, crush with your hands before cooking), or rough equivalent fresh tomatoes
- 2 lbs Italian sausage (raw sausage recommended, bulk also works well) - can omit if vegetarian
- 1 head of escarole and/or other greens (swiss chard or kale) to add at the end
- olive oil, salt and pepper
- parmesan or romano cheese to add on top before serving (optional but recommended)
- a pinch of red pepper flakes and/or dried Italian herbs for extra flavor (optional but recommended)
Instructions:
- Get out all the ingredients. Smash, peel, and roughly mince garlic. Open cans of tomatoes (or if using fresh tomatoes, dice them into a medium bowl), and if using whole peeled tomatoes, you may want to squish them with your hands back into the can to get a consistent size. Open cans of cannellini beans and drain.
- If using raw sausage links, squeeze the meat out of the casings into a medium bowl. If using cooked sausage, chop it into bite-size pieces.
- Lazy method option: you can skip this step and simply add the sausages whole if you're feeling lazy. The dish will not be quite as flavorful because you'll miss out on the full sausage flavor layering into the tomato sauce, however it will still be very tasty. (As per the photo, I did this lazy method when I made it yesterday.)
- Heat a medium-large sauce pot on medium and add a few glugs of olive oil.
- If using sausage - add it now, breaking apart into smaller chunks and spreading it out with a wooden spoon to brown. Cook for 5-7 minutes until raw sausage is browned on most sides. (If using pre-cooked sausage, this will take less time.) In the last few minutes, clear a little space to:
- Add garlic (and red pepper flakes and/or a few dashes of Italian herbs if using), stir to coat in oil and cook for a minute or two until sizzling and very fragrant.
- Now add tomatoes first (break apart whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon if you didn't squish them), then beans, plus about a teaspoon of kosher salt and ground black pepper if you like. Stir, then simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, wash and prep your greens/escarole. If using escarole, you can give it a quick chop (or skip if feeling lazy). If using larger greens like kale or chard, chop into ribbons (You could remove stems if desired.) Do a quick cleanup if you have time.
- After 10-15 minutes, take out a few spoonfuls of the tomatoes + beans and let cool for a minute in a tasting bowl. Taste to see if the tomates taste well-cooked (they should taste like tomato sauce, not like a can of tomatoes). If not, keep simmering for another 10 minutes or so. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- If you did the lazy method and kept sausages whole, check to make sure they are cooked through. They should be firm to the touch. You can cut them in half right in the pot to check and make sure - this is also nice to make smaller pieces of sausage.
- Once cooked to your liking, add the greens and cook for another minute or two until just wilted.
- Turn off the heat. Serve in bowls, topped with fresh parmesan cheese if desired!
- Note: If you did the lazy method meaning you left sausages whole and did not chop the escarole, you'll likely want to serve this with a knife, fork, and spoon! To eat: I suggest first cutting the sausages into bite-size pieces, then eating with a spoon and fork (like you might eat pasta) - use the fork to spin the escarole into a bite, and scoop bite into the spoon with beans/sauce/etc. A little unconventional, but I had fun eating it this way yesterday!
- Beans & Greens keeps great as leftovers/gets even better overnight in the fridge :). Feel free to add pasta the next day if you wish!
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All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
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In case you missed out, here are a few past issues to check out:
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Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month or more, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone when they reopen someday! Check out this article about them.
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