In Italian, this soup means "pasta and beans." And that's exactly it! It's thickened and made rich by canned white beans and can be made entirely vegetarian if you sub out the chicken broth.
pasta fagioli
Pasta Fagioli
Ingredient
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp. salt, plus additional to taste
- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
- 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 6 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
- 2 15-oz. cans white beans (cannellini or great Northern), drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 c. ditalini pasta
- 3 c. chopped fresh kale
- 1 lemon
- Parmesan cheese, for topping
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, 1/2 teaspoon salt, oregano, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have just softened, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic; cook, stirring often, about 2 minutes more.
- 2Add the broth and undrained tomatoes; stir to release any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Add half of the beans to a bowl; mash with a fork and stir into the soup. Add the remaining beans and the pasta to the pot; reduce the heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for 10 minutes. Stir in the kale and cook until the pasta is tender, about 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat.
- 3Zest the lemon, then cut it in half. Squeeze one lemon half into the soup. Add 1 teaspoon of the zest and stir to combine. Taste and add more lemon juice or salt as desired. Top servings with parmesan.