With winter, we needed to try and test some recipes we can put together to make wholesome meals. A slow-cooking pot of pasta with a generous helping of beans just needs a touch of cheese to make it all so good.
Pasta Fagioli
Pasta Fagioli is an Italian style soup with a good amount of wholesome beans. Otherwise called pasta fazool, this recipe is unlike the tomato-based minestrone recipe. The star of the soup here is the beans and pasta. In the original version, you will find the saltiness coming from the preserved meats and the rind of the parmesan cheese. The beans of choice are often chickpeas and white beans. I have chosen the traditional way of making the soup, but omitted the cured meats in it. If you are used to fake meats, you could add in some when the pasta is boiling.
Choosing the right pasta for soup.
It was an Italian restaurant in Philippines that initiated me into learning about pasta. Initially, the varieties of pasta confused me. Now I follow the simple rule that the chef taught me there. The size of the pasta should be proportional to the thickness of the soup you desire. So thinner soups get smaller cuts of pasta and so on. I hope this serves as a quick guide for you to decide which pasta to use as well.
Now one more thought, the pasta which can hold some soup in it tastes really awesome as the soup is scooped up. For pasta Fagioli, we are loving tubeti or macaroni as opposed to farfalle or linguine.
The soup went very well at our house and is easy to achieve from start to finish. We had cranberry lettuce salad on the side with it for that vegetable element and it was quite filling. We have frozen a portion and will keep you posted on the quality when it thawed. But definitely a great soup that can be made for a double batch. Hope you try it out.
Here are some more comforting pasta recipes on this blog, try these too.
Penne with lentils, spinach and marinara sauce
Pan roasted gnocchi with peas, broccoli and corn
Unicorn colour changing pasta -aglio olio
Spaghetti with garlic, basil and chilli
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- Penne in marinara
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- Unicorn pasta
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- Spaghetti with chilli and basil
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- Panroasted gnocci with broccoli.
Stay warm as winter comes and stay safe.
Pasta Fagioli -Italian pasta soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large bayleaves
- 1/2 medium Onion use an yellow onion for a milder flavour, chopped fine
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 4 cups vegetable stock use the sodium free broth
- 3/4 cup pasta macaroni or tubeti
- 1 can chickpea
- 1 can white bean
- salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
- 4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp rosemary finely chopped
Instructions
- Chop the onion and grate the garlic and set aside.
- Heat a stockpot and add the olive oil to heat up
- Add the bay leaf, onions and garlic and sweat them.
- Add the stock, the pasta, the beans and the rind of the parmesan ( believe me, it does taste awesome with it)
- Allow it to come to a slow boil and cook till the pasta is aldente.
- Mash some of the beans into the soup to add a bit of thickness to the soup.
- Add the rosemary, adjust the salt and crushed pepper to the soup
- Serve the soup hot with more parmesan to flavour with.
