Tuscany
Cannellini beans cooked in a garlic, sage and tomato sauce until silky and flavourful — one of Tuscany's great bean preparations. The fresh pork sausages are fried separately until browned, then added to the beans for the final 10 minutes, their fat enriching the sauce. 'All'uccelletto' refers to the sage-and-garlic seasoning traditionally used for small birds (uccelletti).
Creamy cannellini with concentrated tomato; sage gives herbal warmth; garlic is gentle and sweet; the sausage fat enriches the sauce; the whole dish has a unified, rounded flavour — one of Italy's great bean preparations
{"Cook dried cannellini overnight-soaked for 90 minutes in plain water with a bay leaf — do not salt until completely tender","The garlic must be very gently cooked in abundant olive oil until golden, not browned — garlic that colours beyond pale gold becomes bitter","Whole sage leaves cooked in the garlic oil for 1 minute to crisp and release their oils before adding tomato","Add the beans with a ladle of their cooking liquid — the starchy liquid thickens the tomato naturally","Fry sausages separately until golden, then add to the beans — never cook raw sausage in the beans"}
{"Tuscan sausage (salsiccia fresca) is unseasoned except with salt and pepper — if using spiced sausage, reduce or eliminate other seasoning","The olive oil should be generous — this is a bean preparation where olive oil is the cooking medium, not just a garnish","Resting the finished dish 20 minutes allows the beans to absorb the sausage fat and the flavours to settle into coherence"}
{"Salting beans during cooking — the skins tighten and the beans remain firm regardless of cooking time","Garlic that browns — bitter cooked garlic is the most common error in Italian bean preparations","Adding sausage without browning first — the sausage releases excess fat and the beans become greasy"}
La Cucina Toscana — Fagioli, Zuppe e Selvaggina