This is a humble dish made everywhere in Italy, it’s one of my favorites since it’s totally vegetarian and for me, total comfort food. You can use canned beans but I prefer to use dried, just make sure you soak them in cold water the night before. Typical beans used for this are Roman (Borlotti), cannellini but I used pinto beans. Any short type pasta works, I used ditallini which are like little small tubes.
Ingredients
1 can or 1 cup dried beans soaked overnight
2 carrots, chopped small
1 small onion, chopped small
1 stalk celery, chopped small
1 clove garlic chopped fine
1/3 cup tomato sauce or 1 tbs tomato paste
short pasta of choice, 10-12oz
fresh parsley
Put the beans in a large pot with cold water, 4 cups, and boil for 45 mins till tender. Drain the beans but save the bean liquid it has a lot of flavor. In the same pot add 1-2tbs olive oil and sauté the garlic about 2 mins then add the onion, celery and carrots and sauté another few minutes then add 1 cup of the bean liquid, the tomato sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the beans and 3 more cups of bean liquid or water and simmer till everything is softened. Add salt and pepper. Scoop out 2 heaping ladles of the bean mixture with some liquid and place in a blender to create a smooth purée. Place the purée back in the pot and incorporate. Cook the pasta in the mixture for allotted time, might take a little longer than cooking in water. Add some chopped fresh parsley and serve in pasta bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and Parmesan cheese.
תגובות