Good stuff (another ugly one)

Pasta E Fagioli With Sausage
Food and Wine Magazine’s Quick From Scratch Italian Cookbook Copyright 1998, 2002, 2004

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound mild Italian sausage
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 onion, chopped fine
1 rib celery, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
6 cups drained and rinsed canned kidney beans ( three 19-ounce cans) I used three 15.5-ounce cans
2 ¾ cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup tubetti or other small macaroni
½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

1. In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat. Add the sausages and cook, turning, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove. When cool enough to handle, halve the sausages and then cut crosswise into slices.
2. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the pot over moderately low heat. Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes.
3. Puree 4 cups of the beans along with 1 ¼ cups of the broth in a blender or food processor. Add the puree to the pot along with the remaining 1 ½ cups broth, the whole beans, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes.
4. Stir in the pasta. Cook the soup over moderate heat, partially covered, stirring frequently, until the pasta is done, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the sausage and the pepper. Cook until the sausage is warmed through, about 1 minute.

The thought of pasta and beans doesn't usually excite me. I usually think of a meatless dish with white beans. This recipe with the kidney beans and sausage caught my eye though. I thought it would be perfect for Sweetnick's ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday, which is actually being hosted by Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness this week. I used one of my favorite sweet Italian sausages and this stuff was just packed with flavor.

Will Food and Wine Magazine's Quick From Scratch series ever let me down??? I'm going to be very surprised the day that happens.

Question of the Day: Can you 'handle' beans (if you know what I mean)?