I've been eyeing the photo for this recipe for ages now. I just looks really, really appealing. I never used to be much for beans in my youth, but I've warmed up to them over the years and, especially in the last year or two, I've found cannellini beans particularly appealing. So, a rich, savoury thick soup built on a base of cannellini beans sounded like a pretty fantastic dinner to me!

The original recipe calls for a mix of chopped onions, carrots, and celery as the vegetable component. I was running low on veggies when I made this though, so I ended up swapping in some frozen "spaghetti" mix (onion, red bell pepper, carrot, green bell pepper, and celery). I used ~3 c. total. I also swapped in a few olives and an anchovy in place of the pancetta that I forgot to get. I think it would've been fine with just the olives, but I figured I'd toss the anchovy in since we had an open jar in the fridge.

Pasta e Fagioli

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2018

Ingredients

• 2 (450mL) cans cannellini beans
• 1 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (optional)
• ~60g pancetta, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. red pepper flake (optional)
• 4 c. chicken stock
• 115g ditalini or tubettini
• ~1 c. grated Parmesan
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Drain and rinse the beans from one can and add to blender.
2. Pour in water and purée. Set aside.
3. Heat oil over medium heat.
4. Add onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper (if using), pancetta, salt, and pepper and cook for ~10 minutes.
5. Add tomato paste, garlic, and red pepper flakes (if using) and cook for ~2 minutes.
6. Add broth and puréed bean mixture.
7. Drain and rinse second can of beans and add them as well.
8. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for ~10 minutes.
9. Increase heat to medium and bring to a boil.
10. add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente (10-12 minutes).
11. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan and basil.
12. Serve drizzled with extra olive oil and/or Parmesan cheese.

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Variants

Vegetarian Version

Ingredients

• 2 (450mL) cans cannellini beans
• 1 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (optional)
• ~60g green or kalamata olives, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. red pepper flake (optional)
• 4 c. vegetable stock
• 115g ditalini or tubettini
• ~1 c. grated Parmesan
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh basil