No this is not the olive garden’s version of pasta e fagioli, this my friends is the real deal and much simpler in flavor and ingredients to whatever it is they’re serving over there.

Pasta fagioli is easy to make, is a perfect first course or even main entrée to any meal and most importantly is nothing short of delicious.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill. The opinions and text are all mine.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces medium diced pancetta bacon
• 1 medium diced white onion
• 4 medium diced stalks of celery
• 4 peeled medium diced carrots
• 4 finely minced cloves of garlic
• 28 ounce can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• 1 cup of Bob’s Red Mill Cannelini beans soaked overnight in cold water
• 1 cup of borlotti beans soaked overnight in cold water
• 3 quarts chicken stock
• 2 parmesan cheese rinds
• 1 tablespoon each finely minced fresh rosemary and parsley
• 1 pound of ditalini pasta, cooked and cooled
• sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
• grated parmesan for garnish

Serves 12

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Procedures:

1. Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat and cook the pancetta until browned and crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Remove the cooked pancetta and set aside. Add in the onions, celery and carrots and cook over low to medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender.
3. Mix in the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes before adding in the tomatoes, beans, stock and rinds and cook for 45 minutes until the beans are tender.
4. Take 3 cups of the soup ingredients plus a ½ cup of the chicken stock and add to a blender and blend on high until it forms a thick paste.
5. Add the bean paste back to the soup pot and mix in.
6. Finish the soup with herbs, salt and pepper.
7. Serve the soup with some cooked pasta, fresh grated parmesan cheese, herbs and more crisp cooked pancetta.

CHEF NOTES:

• I used a combination of borlotti and cannellini beans just to add more delicious bean flavor to the mix!
• I used whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes that I crushed with my hands and juice but you can just use the tomatoes if you are wanting the pasta fagioli soup to be more of a broth base and less tomatoey.
• If you want your pasta fagioli to be really thick, simply mix in a slurry which is 3 tablespoons of corn starch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water.
• I often times reserve a few of the crisp cooked pancetta lardons to garnish with as well.

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