Italian Sausage with Cannellini Beans and Pickled Peppers

Ingredients

• 1  bay leaves 
• 2  bay leaves 
• 8 ounces bell pepper sweet sliced (2 medium)
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns black
• 2.3 cups .5 can cannellini beans dry
• 1 small carrots diced
• 1 rib celery diced
• 0.5 cup cherry tomatoes halved
• 1.5 tablespoons parsley fresh chopped
• 2 cloves garlic sliced
• 4  ground sausage fresh italian (chicken, turkey, or pork)
• 4 servings kosher salt 
• 4 servings pepper black freshly ground
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 small onion diced
• 0.5 teaspoon salt 
• 0.3 cup sherry vinegar 
• 0.5 teaspoon sugar 
• 1 sprig thyme leaves 
• 0.5 cup water 
• 1 tablespoon citrus champagne vinegar 

Equipment

• frying pan
• sauce pan
• pot

Directions

1. The Day Before: Pick through beans and discard shriveled darkened ones. Rinse in cold running water.
2. Transfer beans, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic to large container and cover with 2 quarts cold water seasoned with 2 tablespoons salt. Allow to rest overnight at room temperature.
3. While beans are soaking, prepare pickled peppers.
4. Combine vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
5. Add peppers, thyme, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaf, and simmer for 30 seconds. Immediately remove from heat and pour mixture into resealable container. Cool to room temperature before placing in refrigerator. Allow to rest overnight while beans soak.
6. The Next Day: drain beans and add them to a large pot along with bay leaves, thyme and garlic. Cover with three inches of water. Slowly bring to a boil. Skim foam from top. Cover and simmer on medium-low heat until beans are tender when pierced with a fork (about 1 ¼ hours).
7. Drain beans and discard bay leaves, garlic and woody portion from thyme sprigs. Set aside.
8. Add olive oil to a large sauté pan set to medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add sausage, browning on all sides until golden (2 to 3 minutes per side).
9. Remove from pan, reduce heat to medium and add carrots, celery and onions, stirring periodically for five minutes until slightly softened. Return sausage to pan, cover with lid and cook for three minutes more before adding reserved cooked beans, white wine vinegar, and cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking about five minutes more, until sausages are cooked through.
10. Plate individually or serve out of pot.
11. Sprinkle with parsley and scatter with pickled peppers.