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Dinner Main Soups Vegetarian

Delicious Pasta and Beans Soup, Pasta e Fagioli

How to prepare the real Italian recipe of a delicious Pasta and Beans or “Pasta e Fagioli”.

This soup is a classic example of Italian wonderful home cooking. Simple yet delicious cannellini or borlotti beans and short pasta mixed with chopped onion and fresh tomatoes. Beans are a great pantry staple with lots of protein and fibers. A great vegetarian, healthy dish that is delicious and comforting on a cold winter night. Loaded with fibers, low in fat and calories.

Ingredients (1 bowl of soup)

  • 2-3 spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • finely chopped Onion
  • a handful of finely chopped Carrot and/or Celery, Bay Leaf
  • a chopped clove of Garlic
  • some Herbs, fresh or dried (sage, thyme, rosemary and oregano are all good)
  • 100 gr. fresh chopped Tomatoes, with juice
  • a tin of Beans 150g/5oz, ideally Borlotti or Cannellini
  • about 4 cups of Water or Stock
  • 50 grams small sized Pasta (maccheroni, mezze maniche, for example)
  • Salt and Pepper
  • ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a pot and sauté the onion, carrot and celery with the bay leaf until the vegetables are soft, 10 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for another minute, then toss in the herbs, tomato. Raise the heat slightly, and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes are bubbling vigorously. Lower the heat to medium-low, and cook gently, stirring and mashing the tomatoes often, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the beans and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour in the water or stock and bring the soup to a boil. Let it simmer for 10 mins.

2. In the meanwhile on a separate pan with a good pinch of salt as soon as the water boils cook the pasta half of the time given in the package instructions, drain, then add the pasta to the beans soup. Keep cooking the soup until pasta is cooked still “al dente“, then season with pepper. If you like, you can mash some of the beans; the smashed beans together with the starch from the pasta will thicken the soup pleasantly. Serve with a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and grated parmesan cheese.

TIP: soft beans make all the difference here, organic tinned beans might be better.

VARIATION: add Prosciutto chopped in pieces to the sautéed onion mix.

Posted by Nicoletta and Tiziana

The Real Italian Food. Buon Appetito!

 

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