Sausage and Bean Casserole

Ah Fall, with your cooler weather and promise of winter you put us in the mood for comforting soups and stews and casseroles. Since I've been on a casserole kick for a while now, this Light Bites choice of recipe was welcome. When I read over the ingredient list, I thought heyyyy this is just a fancied up wieners n beaners! Cool, I'm in!

The verdict? Hmm. Not a fan. It was only ok, despite attempts to jazz it up. I found it lacked depth...the brown sugar gave it sweetness but there wasn't enough flavour going on for that sweetness to enhance. I have the leftovers for lunch and am not particularly excited about it...and I even added bacon. Bacon, man! That should make anything awesome! Mind you it was low-fat peameal bacon so maybe the lack of fat in this dish just made it fall flat for me, I dunno. I am generally on the low-fat bandwagon, but not today folks. I'd only recommend making this as a last-minute meal; the trouble I went to soak beans overnight and whatnot was not really worth it, so the original recipe's recommendation of using rinsed canned beans is more in keeping with this recipe. Kids would probably love it.

Sausage and Bean Casserole
adapted from Cooking Light

1 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium)
2 slices peameal bacon (uncooked Canadian bacon), chopped
200g light smoked turkey sausage, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup water
1/2 chicken stock cube
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry white beans, cooked al dente
1/2 teaspoon harissa
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 slice whole grain bread

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion, garlic, and bacon to pan; sauté for 10 minutes or until browned. Add turkey sausage, and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in water, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add chicken stock cube, brown sugar, tomato paste, dried thyme, mustard, freshly ground black pepper, beans, and harissa. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs.Sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over bean mixture, and lightly coat with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until browned.