Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Wednesday

Pasta e fagioli (recipe in the comments)
Zucchini, carrots, onions, cauliflower, and baby lima beans

Hot tea

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I CANNOT believe that I haven't posted this recipe before! This feels like such an M and J standard and yet, apparently we didn't make it any time between October 2007 and June 2008. Hmmmm. At any rate, this is our version of pasta e fagiole (or pasta fazoole in some American dialects). My mom made this version when I was growing up and we have made VERY few changes. Ours is simply a little brothier than hers. It's a very basic version that I think really captures Italian peasant food in a way few other dishes do. It's very easy to prepare and works well with many sides - salads, simple vegetables, etc. We always serve this with bread, which is unusual for us, but this dish cries out to have its yummy juices mopped up. We've switched from buying a loaf for this meal to individual rolls, to limit the "serving size" we think is reasonable. Otherwise, this is a very naturally healthy meal that happens to also be excellent!

Prep notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onions, garlic
Time: 40 minutes
Make ahead: This saves beautifully!

Reaction
J: "Two meals inspired by mom this week. What an influence!"
M: "Comfort food, Italian-style"

3 comments:

J said...

Pasta e Fagioli – J's Mom (L)
Serves 4

1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, quartered and sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced or sliced (to your preference)
1 can cannelini beans, UNDRAINED
1 t dried oregano
½ t salt
¼ t pepper
1 cup beef stock
1 can chopped tomatoes in their juice
¼ lb. elbow macaroni, ditilini or other small chunky pasta
1 t dried parsley
A splash of red wine
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet. Sauté onions and garlic until onions are translucent. Add beans and liquid and heat through. Add seasonings, stock, and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and add pasta. Cook, partially covered, until pasta is done. Check during pasta cooking. If pan is drying out, cover completely. Add the parsley. Taste for seasonings and wine (sometimes we add it, sometimes not). Top with Parmesan.

Unknown said...

Ed and I had a friend over last night and we made this recipe with great success. The pasta fagioli I'm used to (I'll admit it, I'm one of those people who says pasta "fazoole") doesn't have tomato, but this is really a great soup. We had it with bread and salad. I'm looking foward to left-overs!

J said...

If T had made a "reaction" comment for this, it would have been "I'm a fool for fazoole!", so you're not alone :) He ate two and a half bowls for lunch yesterday!