Pasta e Fagioli

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the soffritto:
The below quantities are for a double batch of soffritto, so you can freeze half and pull it out next time you make a batch of this (or any) soup!
4 carrots, scrubbed
1 large brown onion
6 garlic cloves
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling – feels like a lot, but is essential
Salt and pepper

For the soup:
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp fennel seeds, crush/grind them gently with your hands as your add them to the pot
2 tsp mild chilli flakes – or more to taste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, crush/grind them gently with your hands as your add them to the pot
1/2 tsp turmeric powder – or fresh if you’ve got it
6 anchovy fillets – if you are making this vegan, you could use 1 tbsp miso or omit all together
1/4 cup tomato paste
500g canned beans, we used cannellini but just about any will work, rinsed and drained
Kale (any variety), stems removed, leaves torn into bite sized pieces.
3 bay leaves
1.5-2L water or veg/chicken stock (we used water and it’s flavourful enough!)
225g pasta, a short shaped variety is best
Parmesan – omit if making vegan

Summary

Full of vegetables, beans, and pasta, this hearty pasta e fagioli soup is pretty much all we want to eat in the lead up to winter solstice. Top it of with some fried bread for that delightful soggy-crunchy sensation!

This recipe has been adapted from one by Carla Lalli Music 

Pasta e Fagioli
GF, VG

For the soffritto:
Pulse onions, carrots and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, we go in batches for consistent sizing – you can do this by hand, it’s just more time consuming.

Heat olive oil in a large pot (for which you have a lid) over medium. Add chopped vegetables, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until vegetables start to sweat out some of their liquid, about 5 minutes.

The goal at this stage is to slow cook the soffritto until the vegetables are very soft but have not taken on any colour, so reduce heat to medium-low, cover pot, and cook, stirring every 5-10 minutes or so and reducing heat if mixture starts to brown.

Continue cooking for about 30-40 mins, until vegetables are softened and juicy, have lost at least half of their volume, are juuuuust beginning to brown and the oil is starting to separate amongst the reduced vegetables.

Turn off the heat, divide the soffritto and save half in the fridge/freezer for another tasty meal.

For the soup:
Add all dried herbs/spices to the pot with your soffritto and allow them to bloom and become fragrant for a minute or so. Add in the anchovies and tomato pasteand cook stirring for about 5 mins, until the anchovies have ‘melted’ into the mix and the tomato paste is a brick red colour.

Next add in your beans, kale, bay leaves (and a parmesan rind if you have one floating in the freezer) and cover with about 1.5L – 2L of water or stock. Season with salt and pepper, stir to combine and loosen any pieces of soffritto that have stuck to the bottom of the pot. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered for about 40 mins until the greens are tender and silky.

Cook your pasta (separately) in salted boiling water, until al dente*.

While your pasta cooks, remove bay leaves an parmesan rind and scoop out about a 1/3 of the soup into a bowl (or straight into your blender). Blend this third of the soup until creamy. Return the blended soup back into the pot and stir to combine. This step isn’t essential, but we love the texture and colour it brings to the end dish!

Finally, add the al dente pasta to the pot. Stir, taste, season.

Ladle into bowls, top with a sprinkling of parmesan, drizzle of olive oil and serve with some sturdy bread you’ve fried in olive oil (crunchy, rich, delish!)

*if you’re not eating the soup all in one go, we recommend only making enough pasta for the serves you’re eating and dividing the soup accordingly. This is so you don’t end up with mushy, soup-logged pasta for left overs (or maybe you love that sensation, in which case ignore this!)