White Bean and Sausage Rigatoni

I've had this recipe saved for quite awhile and I'm really glad I got around to finally trying it. The dish comes together really quickly and makes an excellent and quick week night meal. This isn't your typical sauce & noodles dish, so if you're looking for more sauce you'll want to add more tomatoes. While it was cooking it reminded me more of a stew, which you could easily adapt the recipe into. I really enjoyed the flavor profile, despite the fact that I got a little heavy handed with the pasta and added way to much!

Just saw an updated version of this recipe on BHG's website which adds spinach and some more liquid to the original recipe. While I really liked the flavors in the original recipe, I think the addition of spinach as well as chicken broth and tomato paste would make it even better. Try it either way.



White Bean and Sausage Rigatoni

8oz. dried rigatoni (2 cups)
1 15oz. can white kidney (cannellini), Great Northern or navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5 oz. can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
6 oz. cooked smoked turkey sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 c. snipped fresh basil
1/4 c. finely shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese (1 oz.)


1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; return pasta to saucepan.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine beans, undrained tomatoes, and sausage. Cook and stir until heated through. Add bean mixture and basil to pasta; stir gently to combine. To serve, sprinkle each serving with Asiago cheese.

Yield: 4 servings
Source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

Nutritional Information (per serving): 399 calories, 8 g. total fat (3 g. sat. fat), 36 mg chol., 813 mg. sodium, 64 g. carbo., 7 g. fiber, 23 g. protein

Thoughts: Any tube shaped or larger ridged pasta will work, I used a combination of rotini and fusilli. I used a pound of lite smoked sausage, again either sausage or kielbasa would work fine. I added one 28 oz. can of stewed tomatoes, chopped them up a bit in the skillet and added dried basil, oregano and garlic. Obviously fresh herbs would have been better, but don't stress about it and just use what you have - it still came out delicious.