Recipe: Ian: Fagioli all'uccelletto

For some reason I can't get into the ethnic/international
board to post this for you, so here it is:

Some people say they're called this because they're supposed to
be cooked with small birds, while others claim they're simply
beans cooked the way you'd cook small birds if you had them.

Fagioli all'uccelletto (Savory Beans)

3 to 4 C cooked beans, prepared as for Tuscan Beans (rec to follow)
2 to 3 oz pancetta or prosciutto, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 or 4 fresh sage leaves, minced
1 T extra virgin olive oil
4 small Tuscan style or sweet Italian sausages
1 1/2 C chopped fresh, sweet ripe tomatoes, previously peeled,
or use canned whole tomatoes, chopped
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Have the beans ready & keep warm while you prepare the rest of
the dish.

Chop together the pancetta or prosciutto, garlic & sage to make a
very fine mince. Saute gently in the olive oil over medium heat
until the pancetta is giving off fat & the aroma of the garlic &
sage starts to rise. While the aromatics are cooking, open the
sausages, discarding the skins. Add the sausage meat to the pan,
breaking it up with a fork. Cook, stirring occasionally, until
the sausage meat has browned, then stir in the tomatoes & continue
cooking until the tomatoes have reduce to a thick sauce. Taste &
add salt & pepper if necessary.

Stir this sauce into the beans & cook down over medium-low heat
until the beans are napped in the thick sauce.

Serve immediately, on their own or as an accompaniment to a pork
dish. Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Note: To make a vegetarian version, omit the meats & increase the
olive oil to 1/4 C. Add a chopped onion to the initial soffrito
of garlic & sage.For the following recipe, use an earthenware bean pot or a high
straight sided terra-cotta casserole, remembering that clay
vessels will crack on an electric ring. A heavy enameled cast-
iron pan with a lid is a fine alternative.

Tuscan Beanpot Beans (fagioli al fiasco)

1 1/2 C dried beans, soaked overnight in water to cover
3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 or 3 sprigs fresh sage
1 small white or yellow onion, quartered
1 or 2 cloves garlic, peeled
Salt to taste

Drain the beans from their soaking water & place in the bean pot
with fresh water to cover to a depth of 1 inch. Add all the
ingredients except the salt to the pot and bring very, very,
slowly to a simmer. When the liquid is just simmering, cover the
pot & continue cooking until the beans are very tender but not
falling apart. The liquid should shimmer with the heat & never
come to a rolling boil. Check the beans from time to time & if
more water is needed, add only _boiling_ water to the pot. It is
impossible to give an accurate cooking time because so much
depends on the age & size of the beans....and age, at least is
nearly impossible to determine unless you have grown them your-
self or know the farmer who did so. Count on at least 1 1/2 hrs,
but it can take up to 3 hrs. for the beans to soften to that
tenderly melting stage. If it takes longer than this, the beans
are awfully old indeed and should be discarded.

The finished beans should be not at all soupy but rather napped
in a velvety cooking liquid in the same way that grains of rice
are napped with liquied in a well made risotto. Add salt only in
the last hour or so of cooking.

Serve immediately. Or, when the beans are done, you can, if you
wish turn them into fagioli all'uccelletto. Yield: 6-8 servings