Italian Beans with Sundried Tomatoes

I've had a little fascination lately with cooking with pasta sauces in place of regular tomato sauce. I'm not one for opening a can of tomato sauce anyway, so when a recipe calls for it, I usually just mash up some tomatoes as a replacement. But when the snow is blowing, it's not the time for tomatoes. To avoid canned vegetables, I often turn to good jarred tomato sauces. There are lots of sauces on the market with no preservatives or added unnecessaries. The one I used here is Delallo Sundried Tomato Pasta Sauce, but you could use any one of your choice here, with a few sundried tomatoes thrown in for added flavor. This is a recipe fresh from my kitchen today. I served it with Italian sausage and a green salad.

2 cups dried navy beans
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs. salt
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup Sundried Tomato Pasta Sauce (Delallo) or 1 cup sauce your choice with a few chopped sundried tomatoes added

Boil the beans, changing the water a few times (to reduce gas issues later!), until the beans are almost soft. At this point, keep only enough water in the beans to avoid sticking to the pan. Add all other ingredients but the sauce. Cook until the beans and the onions are soft, stiring occasionally and keeping the water level so there's just enough to avoid scorching. Remove the bay leaf and add the sauce. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.