Bean, Sausage, And Spinach Casserole

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 lb italian sausage (i like the hot better than the mild)
• 1 small bunch fresh spinach leaves, chopped (3 to 5 cups) or 1 small one 1 pound package of frozen cut spinach leaves, thawed
• 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans or 2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, ground or 1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons sage, fresh and chopped or 1 tablespoon dried ground sage
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese, grated

Recipe

• 1 remove the casing from the italian sausage and brown over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly browned. remove sausage and when cooled, crumble the sausage.
• 2 add the fennel, onion, and garlic to the skillet and cook over medium heat until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
• 3 in a large bowl, mix the fennel, onion, and garlic with the spinach, beans, sausage, parmesan cheese, sage, salt and pepper. spoon the mixture into an 8 by 8 inch baking dish.
• 4 cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
• 5 optional: substitute 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans (cannelloni beans), and 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, or 2 (15 0z) cans of navy beans for the 2 (15 oz) cans of kidney beans.