Pasta e Fagioli
We’re knee deep in winter here in the northeast. Literally, becasue we got another foot of snow last week. It’s been one of the longest and coldest winters I can remember in a long time. I'm thinking about putting away the car and buying a luge to get around instead.
Do you think they come with heated seats?
So, cold and snow can only mean one thing – soup for dinner! I hope you’re not tired of it yet, because we still have at least another month or more to go 🙂 . Pasta e fagioli is a great winter-warmer-upper because it’s filling and hearty. It’s also a perfect choice for Meatless Monday. Couldn’t be an easier one-pot meal with lots of veggies, protein from the beans, and starch from the pasta.
I’ve seen at least as many different variations on this soup as there are beans and pasta shapes. Usually I use Ditalini pasta, the small tubes. You can also swap small shells, orzo, or even a whole grain like farro (although farro will take about 40 minutes to soften.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 medium carrots peeled and chopped into ½-inch pieces
- 4 stalks celery chopped into ½-inch pieces
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 large cloves garlic minced
- 4 ounces tomato paste
- 10 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 1 cup small tube pasta
- 2 cups packed chopped baby kale (stems removed)
- 15 ounce can white cannelloni beans drained and rinsed
- 15 ounce can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- ½ cup fresh basil chopped
- kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil on high heat in a large stockpot, and sauté carrots, celery, onion and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and stir to coat vegetables.
- Add the stock and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
- Using an immersion blender, puree soup so that it's partly smooth but with some chunks of vegetables remaining. Alternately, remove about 2 cups of solids with some broth and puree in a blender. Add blended portion back to soup pot.
- Add the pasta, drained beans, kale and basil. Return soup to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Simmer for an additional 15 minutes or until the pasta is tender.
Notes
Nutrition
Are you watching the Olympics? What's your favorite winter sport?
Eat well!