Fennel, Bean and Bacon soup (GF)

just found a pile of old recipes. this one is merely some scribbles on the back of an envelope (stamped in 1990 lol) so i'm guessing how it goes...

375g dried cannelini or other white beans (?*)
2 tabs olive oil or butter
2 rashers of bacon, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 onions, peeled & diced
1/2 bulb fennel, diced
oregano, dried or fresh
2-3 bay leaves
black pepper to taste
4 cups tomato couli (or a bottle of sugo / passata etc)
2 cups chardonnay
salt
chopped italian boiling sausages ** (GF if needed)

put beans in a bowl and cover with twice as much water as beans (ie: if beans come 1" up the bowl put 2" of water in). leave to soak for 1 hour

heat oil/butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. add bacon, garlic, onions, and fennel and cook, stirring, until onions & fennel are soft.

add oregano, bay leaves, pepper, drained beans, tomato couli, chardonnay and salt. turn to a high heat and cook until beans are done.

add sausages in and cook for 10 more minutes then serve.


* i'm pretty sure 1 hour of soaking would not be enough for this to be cooked, any thoughts?
** what on earth are these???! just regular italian sausages you get everywhere?