Ziti Chickpeas with Sausage and Kale
We jokingly call these meaty, greeny, cheesy, beany, spicy baked chickpeas because, well, internet recipe naming conventions make us laugh but I really think of them as Pizza Beans 2.0. I introduced Pizza Beans 1.0 to my family when I was dreaming of a mash-up of Greek gigante beans in tomato sauce and an American baked ziti, with beans instead of noodles.. I called them “pizza” beans to try to convince my kids to try them with clever marketing. We still adore the recipe and all of the truly unexpected places it’s landed.
But to be honest, these are even more popular with the family these days. Heartier with chickpeas, Italian sausage, dark greens, extra red pepper flakes for heat, and a pecorino-mozzarella broiled cheesy top, the whole dish seems louder, and even more filling. You can see that our default is still to scoop them onto garlic bread (also helps bring reluctant kids to the table) but they’re also fantastic, with or without the melted cheese on top, over polenta or even pasta. It makes a big pan of beans and the leftovers are great — perfect for meal prepping.
Ingredients:
- Glug of olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped small
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 12 ounces sweet or spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or less to taste
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 6-8-ounce bundle kale, stemmed, or 4 to 5 ounces kale leaves, cut into thin ribbons
- 3/4 pound mozzarella, coarsely grated
- 2/3 cup finely grated pecorino cheese
- Garlic bread, for serving, if you wish