Pasta Fagioli

Here is my recipe for pasta fagioli soup. It’s my own personal take on the soup which I ate from when I was a child when my grandma used to serve it before almost every meal. My love of it continued in to adulthood and I always order it at any Carluccios restaurant in England for lunch. It’s hearty, filling, packed full of flavor and luxurious. You can make this completely vegan by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and completely gluten-free by exchanging pasta for gluten-free versions. Or you can even add pancetta to the base and make it not vegetarian at all! In the north of Italy this soup is served with borlotti beans inside but in the south they serve it with cannellini beans so not to worry if you can’t find any borlotti.

• 1 onion

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 carrot

• Extra virgin olive oil for cooking, plus more to serve on top

• 1/2 a large zucchini (courgette), small regular.

• 1 sprig rosemary

• Salt/pepper

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 can chopped Italian tinned tomatoes

• 1 liter of chicken stock

• 1 can of borlotti beans. Mash half and keep the other half Whole.

• 1 small bag of baby tubetti or shell pasta

• 1/2 cup of fresh basil.

First of all, start with a large Dutch oven pot, and generously smother in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Next, finely dice your onion, crush your cloves of garlic and add in your peeled finely chopped carrot. Use around 1 Tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper to season, throw in your rosemary spring and then cook whilst stirring until the onions are translucent. Then add in your diced zucchini (courgette) and cook for a couple more minutes before adding in your tbsp on tomato paste. Then crush half of your can of borlotti beans and add the rest in whole. After about a minute add in your can of chopped Italian tomatoes and chicken stock. Let it all simmer for around 20 minutes to thicken and then add in your baby pasta about 5-7 minutes before serving along with some freshly chopped basil. Serve with some either homemade focaccia bread from my blog or store bought, warmed in the oven and then drizzle with a little extra virgin oil on top.

Buon appetito!