Sausage and Bean Casserole

Ingredients

• 1  bay leaf 
• 0.5 teaspoon pepper black freshly ground
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar 
• 48 ounce cannellini beans beans white rinsed drained canned
• 0.5 teaspoon thyme leaves dried
• 14 ounce less-sodium chicken broth fat-free canned
• 2 tablespoons parsley fresh chopped
• 2  garlic cloves minced
• 1 cup onion chopped ( 1 medium)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste 
• 16 ounce turkey sausage smoked light cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (such as Hillshire Farm)
• 3 ounce bread white

Equipment

• food processor
• frying pan
• oven
• dutch oven

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 37
2. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.
3. Add onion and turkey sausage to pan; saut for 5 minutes or until browned.
4. Add garlic, and saut for 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar, tomato paste, dried thyme, freshly ground black pepper, cannellini beans, and bay leaf.
5. Add ground red pepper, if desired. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 1/2 cups.
8. Sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over bean mixture, and lightly coat with cooking spray.
9. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until browned. Discard bay leaf.
10. Sprinkle with parsley.