A pot of white beans, and beans with tomato, sage and sausages tonight

Makes About 12 cups of beans in their broth, plus dinner for 4 tonight

Dried beans cooked slowly with garlic and sage taste nothing like a can, and cost a few dollars for the week. Tonight they go into tomato and sage with browned sausages, the Tuscan way.

3 hr 30 min (45 min hands-on), plus soaking overnight · serves 4

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.