Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Winter is here... Pasta Fagioli Weekend



Well, Winter has finally arrived in Maryland this past weekend.  SO, I decided a nice Pasta Fagioli would be a great and yummy weekend staple in the fridge.  Normally, I am all about shortcuts but I have to admit that when you have the time and are going to make beans start with dried and soak them overnight.  It makes a huge difference in the final product.  The beans will be creamy on the inside and retain just enough resistence as you bite into them.

I have never really made pasta fagioli but I do love it.  So I started on Friday night by soaking a bag of cannelleni beans overnight in cold water.  The next day I rinsed them off and started making the soup… very standard here:  Start by sautéing the aromatics in Olive Oil.
 
Chopped Onions
Chopped Celery
Chopped Carrots
Chopped Garlic
Soaked Cannellini Beans
Chicken Broth
Bay Leaves
Dried Oregano
¼ jar of Marinara Sauce

And start simmering!  Once the beans were tender I tossed in some partially cooked ditalini (or any small pasta).   I like partially cooking the pasta so that it can finish in the soup, some starch will be released and bring together the soup and the pasta will soak up some of the stock as well.  I grated some Parmesan over just before serving, you could add a little chopped parsley as well.  It came together and was the best thing for this chilly weekend.  It was gone by Sunday night!


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