Hearty Fagioli al Forno -Italian Baked Beans - is a popular Northern Italian Dish. In honor of my mamma who really loved Pasta Fagioli, we decided to add pasta to the baked beans recipe and make it even better. Canned cannellini beans make the baked beans dish quick and easy. Fresh fragrant sage leaves, aromatic garlic, and spicy sausage makes this satisfying dish a meal in itself.
Fagioli al Forno - Italian Baked Beans with Pasta
Italian fagioli background
If you look up popular Italian peasant food you'll find beans. But, during the Renaissance, Catherine de Medici wanted to refine Italian cuisine, so beans fell out of favor with the nobility and the sophisticated city dwellers.
Only, the poor couldn't be particular -- they still made their bean dishes. Affordable and delicious!
It wasn't long before before beans became popular again. You know, when something tastes good and is good for you it eventually comes back into vogue.
In Tuscany, beans are such a staple in the regional cuisine that the Tuscans have the nickname of " beaneaters", although beans are eaten all over Italy.
Fagioli al Forno - Italian Baked Beans with Pasta
Fagioli are versatile and nutritious
You can make so many delicious and nutritious dishes with beans. Here is an excellent article if you want to read more about the nutrition and health benefits of beans.
Some delicious ways you can serve beans:
- In soups such as ham and beans
- As an appetizer like white bean hummus
- In a salad such as pinto bean salad or three bean salad
- In sweets, black bean brownies, or chocolate pumpkin muffins
- Baked with meat and pasta
- As a spread on crostini
- Made into a patty and put in a sandwich
- At breakfast as a faux sausage link
- served as a basis of a hearty salad such as tonno e fagioli (tuna and beans).
One very popular Tuscan dish is fagioli all'uccelletto (beans cooked like little birds). The recipe consists of cooking cannellini beans then combining them with chopped garlic, fresh sage leaves and tomatoes and simmered for about 15 minutes, until tender and fragrant. The dish is sometimes served with coarse country sausage.
Pasta al Forno - Italian Baked Beans with Pasta
Pasta Fagioli al Forno
For this Italian baked beans recipe we opted for canned beans. We used one can cannellini and one can pinto beans.
You can also make this into a vegetarian recipe by just omitting the sausage. . . it will still taste good but not as great as with the smoked meat.
Fresh sage leaves flavor the beans along with garlic, onion, and thyme which is very popular in Italy.
For the smoked meat we used kielbasa since we already had it, but you can use any smoked meat you like.
Simple ingredients and ordinary seasonings combine to make some of the most delicious dishes.
The Italians have a saying: La fame è il miglior cuoco che ci sia { Hunger is (makes) the best cook}.
Tutti a tavola è pronto!
Alla prossima.
YOU MAY NEED...
Le Creuset Stoneware Casserole with Lid - This is really handy to have with a lid that won't let the contents leak.
Cannellini beans -- this is a staple in our pantry. We love adding them to soups.
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Fagioli al Forno - Italian Baked Beans recipe
An economical dish that is satisfying as a meal by itself. The canned beans make this recipe easy and quick although you could start the day before by using dried beans that you soak and cook. The fresh sage and smoked sausage is the secret to the hearty satisfying taste of the fagioli al forno.
If you like this recipe, please give it a 5-star rating.
Fagioli al Forno - Italian Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 2 cans 15 oz. cannellini beans *
- 1 can 14 oz. fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ medium onion chopped
- 3 fresh sage leaves
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 oz. smoked sausage cut in half and then into ¼" half moons**
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 oz. dry pasta cooked according to package directions to just below al dente - it will continue to cook in the baked beans.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a Dutch oven heat the oil over medium heat and saute the garlic and sage leaves for 3-4 minutes until garlic is tender but not brown. Add the onions with the sprig of thyme. Continue to saute for another 5 minutes.
- Stir in the smoked sausage and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the fire roasted tomatoes and cook for 4 minutes. Pour in the beans with its juice and add the red pepper flakes.
- Mix in the pasta and cover the dish with a lid or foil, and place in the center of the heated oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the dish from the oven, stir the beans, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Return the beans to the oven, uncovered, and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 7 - 8 minutes before serving. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Notes
- * We used one can of cannellini and one can of pinto beans.
- ** We used kielbasa just because we already had it.
Nutrition
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