Sausage Bean Casserole

I found this recipe in KMay's blog and since we are big fans of beans and sausage we had to give it a try. I've made quite a few recipes from this blog and haven't been disappointed yet. I made a few adjustments to the recipe to suit our tastes. It's an extremely easy dish to make, only dirties one pot, and tastes great as leftovers.

Sausage Bean Casserole

• 1 cup chopped onion (about one medium onion)
• 1 lb ground sausage
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 14 ounce can chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 16 ounce cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 cups frozen chopped spinach

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown sausage, add onion and saute until soft. Add garlic, saute 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, scraping pan to loosen brown bits. Stir in brown sugar, tomato paste, thyme, pepper, beans and bay leaf. Add red pepper and spinach. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, remove lid and bake for 15 minutes.