Pasta & Fagioli
Pasta Con Fagioli
Pasta with Beans
One of my, go to meals is Pasta & Fagioli it’s quick, easy, it freezes well, it’s filling, tasty and always without fail hits the spot…..
1 medium onion chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 celery stalks chopped or go to Trader Joe’s and buy a container of Mirepoix!
Olive oil
2 cans of cannellini (white kidney beans) beans regular size cans are fine; I use whatever is on sale. I also love using small white beans. Drain and rinse the beans.
1 pinch of rosemary
2 dried bay leaf
4 cups of chicken broth (low sodium)
2 cups of water
One Roma or Plum tomato (optional) chopped
Sea Salt and Black pepper
In a large pot coat the bottom with olive oil….2 tablespoons is good. Heat up the oil, add the aromatics; chopped onion, chopped celery, and chopped carrots. Season with salt and pepper about a pinch of each is all you need. Cook until soft, add a good pinch of rosemary and 2 bay leaves…stir that around and take a good whiff-It smells like church! At this time I sometimes add the chopped tomato (I don’t always add it) and on occasion I have added a splash of dry white wine.
Continue by adding the beans let it all marry in the pot, stirring it together, then add the broth and water, bring to a boil then lower the heat to simmer for about 30 minutes.
I freeze it, if it will be eaten later in the week, or it’s left in the refrigerator if we will eat it early in the week, it is usually one of our Monday meals….known as meatless Monday in our household.
About the pasta, I make the pasta on the night we are eating it, (it does not get frozen with the beans) I also slightly cool the pasta for a bit so that the starch does not soak up the broth, once it is mixed together, it is moist but not soupy. The pastas that can be used are; tiny shells, tubettini, elbows, and ditalini. 1 cup of uncooked pasta is perfect for the one container we use two containers and boil 2 cups of pasta.
After plating, I add Parmesan cheese and a pinch of red pepper flakes to my own plate. I serve it with a salad and crusty, warm right out of the oven bread!
How yummy does that look!
Mangia, Mangia…No talk!