{"id":45145,"date":"2026-01-20T16:05:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/?p=45145"},"modified":"2026-03-02T19:23:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T18:23:06","slug":"sausage-and-bean-stew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tortelliniandco.com\/en\/sausage-and-bean-stew\/","title":{"rendered":"Sausage and bean stew. Home cooking and January’s recipes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I started the year cooking hearty dishes, perfect for the season.
\nLike sausage and bean stew with Grandma Sara’s special touch: a few pieces of fresh pork belly, which makes the sausage sweeter during cooking and adds great flavor to the sauce.<\/p>\n

Home cooking and casalinghitudine<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

I was in first grade when, at the end of the Christmas holidays, I discovered that I would have to leave the warmth of the kitchen and go back to school.<\/p>\n

In the cold heart of winter, when January invites you to stay at home<\/strong>, I was put on the yellow school bus despite my proposal to retire (my parents still laugh). <\/strong>At that time, I didn’t know how to name the feeling I associate with January.<\/p>\n

To describe the essence of my casalinghitudine, a neologism invented by the Italian writer Clara Sereni in 1984 that perfectly describes my feelings since I was a child, I must talk about days when time slows down, allowing me to observe, think, listen to myself, cook, and read.<\/p>\n

It is a feeling that encompasses gestures, words, and spaces I tend to take for granted. Time to be here and now.<\/p>\n

In such difficult times, the pleasure of being or returning home after work, touching my books, sitting at my desk in my study, going into the kitchen, and tying on my apron are gifts that I appreciate more than ever. Perhaps you, too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sausage and bean stew and traditional cuisine<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

When I was a little girl, Sunday was a special day. Unlike other days of the week, lunch consisted of a full menu. And, even though in the evening we returned to the rule of one dish and one side dish, the choice fell on something particular, such as grigliata mista or a stew<\/strong>, i.e., something that cooks for a long time in tomato sauce.<\/p>\n

While the ritual of preparing the grill began in the basement, Italians call it tavernetta or taverna, the stew took shape in the family kitchen upstairs.<\/p>\n

From my corner, I followed the steps. First the beans, then the meat, finally the tomato sauce. As time passed, the sauce’s aroma grew more intense, and its color changed from red to a golden-orange hue, indicating that the stew was cooked to perfection. In fact, it is cooked for a long time, but not too long. It has a robust flavor. It is a dish that satisfies and warms. There isn’t much room for elegant plating. The stew is pure substance and only needs fresh bread to dip into the sauce. The Italian scarpetta.<\/p>\n

My cooking today is very similar to how it used to be. Not to mention that I cook dishes the way I learned from my grandmother. Sometimes I follow tradition. Sometimes, as she did before me, I change course to find my own way. It’s not disrespectful. On the contrary, it’s love. Innovation is a way to keep traditions alive, allowing a recipe to evolve and move forward.<\/p>\n