With all that rain the other day, it dipped down to what, mid-70s? That's sweater weather in South Florida, and that meant breaking out a winter recipe. This is something of a take on the classic English bangers and mash, a dish that, if you eat it enough, will make you banger-shaped.
So this is something of a healthy version, with a bit of an Italian twist. And oh, there's an excuse to drink beer below.
Start by sauteeing onions, red peppers, and a clove of garlic
for about five minutes in a Dutch oven or a deep frying pan.
Remove
them and add five or six sweet turkey or chicken Italian sausages (enough for two people).
When the sausages have a nice golden crust on all sides, throw the
onions and peppers back in, right on top of the sausages. Important
tip: Don't mix them together here. Add about a half a bottle of hard cider, which will sweeten up the dish
nicely. I didn't have any handy, so I went with an ale, which is a fine
substitute. Now drink the other half of the bottle.
Again, don't mix up the sausages, onions, and peppers here. Leaving the sausages on the bottom will ensure they braise nicely. Top the pot and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Letting out
that steam will just screw up the dish, so every time you want
to lift the top to check on it, open another beer instead.
Get a small sauce pan going with garlic, rosemary, and olive
oil. I had some leftover roasted garlic, which is even better. Add a
can of well-drained white beans. Stir that every couple of minutes to get
the beans soft.
Add chicken stock until you've covered the beans, and let that cook
about five or ten minutes, until the beans have gotten a bit mushy.
Throw the whole concoction in a food processor (if you've used a whole
rosemary sprig like I did, make sure to fish it out first). Put the
pureed beans back on the stove over low heat.
Take the top off the peppers for about five minutes, which will let the
sauce cook down. When the sauce is almost evaporated, it's time to
plate.
The result is a white bean puree that makes a fine, healthy
substitute for the mash. And bangers? They've got nothing on
beer-braised Italian sausage.
