Tomatoey Chicken Sausage, Bacon, Beans, and Bread Crumbs

Sometimes I get into a cooking rut because I get busy, lazy, and/or I'm tired of my seasonal dishes and waiting for the change of a season. I was loving my spring/summer dishes before, but as the months tick by and the heat and humidity persist, I get tired of them and want a change.  For the last two weeks I was going through that phase and ate mostly hot dogs and frozen food. By last weekend, I felt gross and was eager to start up my cooking again and this week the weather is finally starting to cool down enough that I can get excited for fall dishes!  

Anytime I see a recipe that involves sausage and beans I flag it as a possible future dish because those are usually easy and you can't go too wrong with that flavor combination. I liked that this one also had tomatoes (how much do I heart Trader Joe's canned diced tomatoes with no salt?) and the novelty of homemade bread crumbs (a first for me). And then I saw that this recipe had bacon and there was no question about it - I had to make this!  I tell you, bacon searches me out! Since I had some chard leftover from my other dish this week, Orzo with Caramelized Fall Vegetables, Bacon, and Ginger, I added some in as well. I love a nice colorful dish! I went a little too long in the broiler so my bread crumbs were almost burned. I panicked but luckily they still taste amazing and I managed to not set off my smoke detectors.  Ah fall, it's so good to have you back! Now just keep winter at bay for a while.

Servings: Original recipe says 6 but this is a 3-mealer for me (I basically need at least 2 normal person sized servings).

Ingredients:

4 slices of thick cut bacon, chopped (I used Trader Joe's peppered uncured turkey bacon)

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon thyme

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes

1 1/4 cup chicken broth

2 14.5-ounce cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

12 ounces sausage, cut in half lengthwise and in 1/2 inch pieces (I used Trader Joe's garlic chicken sausage)

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1-2 cups kale or chard, chopped

3-5 cups bread, cut into 1-2 inch pieces (I used about 1/3 of a Trader Joe's sourdough baguette)

Pat of butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 chopped slices of bacon and cook for a few minutes until browned and slightly crisp.
• Add 1 chopped onion to the bacon and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.
• Add 3 minced garlic cloves and 1 tbsp thyme and cook for an additional minute.
• Add 1/2 cup white wine and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add a can of diced tomatoes and cook for 2-4 minutes until sauce is thickened.
• Add 1 1/4 cup chicken broth and 2 cans of cannellini beans and bring the mixture to a simmer.

• Add 12 ounces chopped sausage to the mixture and stir everything together.

• Move skillet to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
• While the skillet is in the oven, prepare breadcrumbs by either toasting them in a toaster oven or melt a pat of butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and then add 3-5 cups chopped bread. Stir the bread frequently until it browns, approximately 8-10 minutes.  I used my cast iron skillet and had to lower the heat halfway through as the bread was browning too fast.

• Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup chopped parsley into the bread crumbs and season with some salt.
• Remove skillet from oven and stir in 1-2 cups of chopped kale or chard.
• Heat broiler.
• Spoon the breadcrumbs evenly on top of the skillet mixture.
• Place the skillet back in the oven and broil about 6 inches from the heat source for 1 minute. I did 2 and ended up with my breadcrumbs almost burnt (still tasted good though!).
• Remove skillet from oven and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Mmm smells so good and tastes so yummy!

I may have almost burnt the breadcrumbs during the final broil stage, but I actually really liked them like this! They were more flavorful and crunchy. But oh man was my oven smoky when I first opened the door so watch it carefully if you want to broil more than 1 minute!

The bacon and sausage in this dish are just too much for Sunny and Rosy to resist.

No licks! This has onions and other things that wouldn't be good for you! But of course I did set aside itty bits of the bacon for them in the beginning as a treat afterwards. They've gotten really good at posing with my food because they know they'll get at least a tiny bite of something yummy!

Another recipe to add to my regular fall/winter rotation!

Adapted from Martha Stewart.