Heat the garlic oil in a shallow, flameproof casserole or heavy-based saucepan that comes with a lid, and brown the sausages, bearing in mind that Italian sausages do not colour hugely.
Take the pan off the heat for a moment, and pour in the red vermouth, then return to the heat and let the vermouth bubble up a bit, before adding the drained beans, the peppers and the can of tomatoes.
Take the emptied can of tomatoes and half-fill with water, then add this too, before adding the bay leaves, and salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low, cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes until the sausages are cooked through. Remove the lid, turn up the heat a bit and simmer robustly for 5 further minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Now, take off the heat altogether, then – using tongs, for ease – remove the sausages to a chopping board and cut them into thick slices, on a gentle diagonal if you can. You can leave them whole, but they go further sliced.
Return the sausage slices to the pan and dish out from there, or ladle the beans into shallow bowls, adding the sliced sausages on top. Either way, serve with hunks of bread for people to dunk as they eat.