While I tried to provide exact quantities, this recipe is meant to be cooked with your senses. It’s lenient and can take a few oopsies or swapped ingredients. Pour yourself a glass of cooking wine and just enjoy! See how it’s made here.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil and more as needed

• ¾ lb. of spicy italian sausage in bulk or removed from the casing

• Half a medium onion, diced

• Half a bulb of fennel, diced

• Splash of dry white wine (if ya got it)

• 2 tbsp. tomato paste

• 4 garlic cloves, sliced

• Salt

• Black pepper

• Crushed red pepper

• 2 cans of large white beans, drained and rinsed (cannellini or great northern)

• 1 28 oz. can of peeled tomatoes

• 2 heads of escarole, washed and coarsely chopped

• Crusty bread, toasted with olive oil

• Garnishes: Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, chopped parsley and fennel fronds

Make it!

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once hot, add your olive oil until it shimmers. Add sausage and immediately start breaking it up into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon in the pot (think: walnut and hazelnut sized pieces). Cook until mighty crispy and golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel-lined plate.

2. Add the diced onions and fennel to the pot. If the bottom is sticking from the sausage that’s okay! Throw a big splash of wine in there to deglaze all that spicy goodness. Sprinkle in three generous pinches of salt, a few grinds of pepper and some crushed reds. Cook until the fennel and onion are translucent. 4-5 minutes.

3. Add your garlic and tomato paste and stir until the paste turns brick red, about 3 minutes. Immediately add your can of tomatoes, crushing them with your hands (or with your wooden spoon in the pot). Add the two cans of beans and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cover for 5 minutes. 

4. Taste the sauce to see if it needs more salt. Likely, it will need a few more generous pinches, don’t be shy!! Add in your escarole and sausage and cook over medium for 2 minutes until the escarole has wilted but not lost all green color. 

5. Serve with an olive oil-y, toasted piece of bread, fresh parsley, fennel fronds, grated parm and crunchy salt. Buon Appetito!