Starts Sunday, Nov 22White bean week

You need

• 2 lb dried cannellini beans
• 1 head garlic, top sliced off
• 6 sage leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 parmesan rind
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• For tonight: 1½ lb Italian sausages (about 6), 3 tbsp olive oil, 3 garlic cloves (sliced), 8 sage leaves, 1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes (crushed by hand), red pepper flakes, black pepper, crusty bread

How to make it

1. Saturday night: rinse the beans in a colander and pick out any stones or shriveled beans. Put them in a big bowl and cover with cold water by 3 inches; they'll double in size. Leave them on the counter overnight.
2. Sunday afternoon: drain and rinse the beans. Put them in a large heavy pot with the head of garlic, sage, bay leaves, parmesan rind and olive oil. Cover with fresh water by 2 inches.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim off any foam, then turn it down to the lowest simmer, where the surface just trembles. Set the lid ajar. Hard boiling splits the skins; gentle heat makes them creamy.
4. After 45 minutes, stir in the salt. Keep the beans covered with liquid the whole time; add hot water if they peek out.
5. Start tasting after 1 hour, five beans at a time. They're done when every one is creamy all the way through with no chalky center: usually 1¼ to 2 hours, depending on how old the beans are.
6. Turn off the heat and let them cool in their broth; they firm up and soak in flavor. Squeeze the soft garlic out of its skins into the pot and stir it in. Take out the bay leaves, and save the parmesan rind for Monday.
7. Portion the week: 4 cups of beans plus 4 cups of broth for Monday, 3 cups of beans for Tuesday, 2 cups for Wednesday, each with enough broth to cover. You'll have about 3 cups left for tonight.
8. For tonight: brown the sausages in 1 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, turning, 10 to 12 minutes, until browned all over. They'll finish cooking in the sauce. Move them to a plate.
9. Pour off all but 1 tbsp of the fat, add the other 2 tbsp olive oil, the sliced garlic, sage leaves and a pinch of pepper flakes and cook 1 minute, until the sage crisps and the garlic is pale gold.
10. Add the tomatoes and simmer 8 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in 3 cups drained beans with ½ cup of their broth, nestle the sausages in, cover, and simmer 10 minutes, until the sausages read 160°F inside and the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Season with salt and pepper and serve with bread and a drizzle of your best oil.

Forgot to soak? Cover the beans with water, boil 2 minutes, then let them sit covered off the heat for 1 hour. Drain and carry on.

Never throw out the bean broth. It's the base of Monday's soup.

You need

• 4 cups cooked white beans and 4 cups of their broth (from Sunday)
• The parmesan rind (from Sunday)
• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus more to serve
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 sprig rosemary
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 8 oz ditalini
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• Grated parmesan, to serve

How to make it

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and a pinch of salt and cook 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft.
2. Add the garlic, rosemary and pepper flakes and cook 1 minute.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook 3 minutes. Then add the beans, their broth, the water and the parmesan rind. Bring to a simmer.
4. Scoop out about 2 cups of the beans and liquid, mash them with a fork or blend them, and stir them back in. This thickens the soup.
5. Add the pasta and simmer, stirring often so it doesn't stick, 9 to 11 minutes, until tender. If it gets too thick, add water ½ cup at a time; it should be thick but still a soup.
6. Take out the rosemary sprig and the rind. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with a swirl of olive oil and grated parmesan.

It thickens as it sits. Loosen leftovers with water when you reheat them.

You need

• 3 cups cooked white beans, with ½ cup of their broth (from Sunday)
• 1 large bunch lacinato kale, stems stripped, leaves sliced
• 5 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 3 garlic cloves, 2 sliced and 1 whole
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• ½ lemon
• 4 thick slices country bread
• 4 eggs
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• Grated parmesan, to serve

How to make it

1. Heat 3 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and pepper flakes and cook 1 minute, until the garlic is pale gold.
2. Add the kale and a pinch of salt and toss with tongs 3 to 4 minutes, until it's dark green and wilted.
3. Add the beans and their broth. Simmer 4 to 5 minutes, pressing some of the beans with the back of a spoon, until it's thick and creamy. Season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Keep it warm over low heat.
4. Toast the bread until deeply golden. Rub one side of each slice with the cut side of the whole garlic clove and drizzle with oil.
5. Fry the eggs in the remaining oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat, 2 to 3 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still runny. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Pile the beans and greens on the toast, top each with an egg, and finish with parmesan and more olive oil.

Swiss chard or spinach work in place of kale. Spinach needs only 1 minute.

You need

• 2 cups cooked white beans, drained (from Sunday)
• 2 cans (5 oz each) tuna in olive oil
• ½ small red onion, sliced as thin as you can
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tbsp capers, rinsed
• 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 small head radicchio (leaves torn) or a bag of arugula, and good bread

How to make it

1. Put the sliced onion in a large bowl with the vinegar and a pinch of salt. Let it sit 10 minutes while you do everything else; it turns pink and loses its harsh bite.
2. Add the beans, tomatoes, capers and parsley. Grate in the zest of the lemon and squeeze in half of it.
3. Add the tuna with a little of its oil, breaking it into big flakes with a fork.
4. Drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt and plenty of pepper, and fold gently so the beans stay whole.
5. Taste: it should be bright. Add more lemon if it needs it. Serve on the radicchio or arugula, with bread.

Tuna packed in olive oil makes all the difference here. Water-packed tuna is dry.