PASTA E FAGIOLI
By: Anshu Verma
Published: Saturday, December 3, 2011 - 11:45am

Ingredients




Pasta (small) – 100 gms
Tomato with juice – 2
Tomato puree – 1 teaspoon
Garlic – 2 cloves
Crushed red chilli – ½ teaspoon
Celery chopped – 1
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Beans/Chick Peas – 100 gms
Basil leaves

Preparation

1 Heat a deep pan. Add oil to the pan. Add the Garlic, you do not need to chop it, just smash the garlic. Add the crushed red chillies. 2 Now add the tomato and tomato puree. Stir the mix for 1-2 mins. Add approx 3 cups of water to the pan. 3 Add the chopped celery and the beans to the water. Add salt to taste. Bring the water to boil. Add the small pasta to the boiling water. Lower the heat and let everything cook. 4 Keep checking when the pasta is cooked. Remove the pan from the heat. 5 Garnish it with fresh basil. 6 Enjoy with warm bread.

About

Pasta E Fagioli means Pasta with beans. I call it a soup made with pasta and beans in a tomato sauce. I find this soup very light, tasty because it is perfectly balanced with chilli and tomato, perfect blend of flavours of celery and basil. One day my mother-in-law  came to my house at lunch time. I was quite ashamed because I had hardly anything in my cupboard. She went in my kitchen and said to me that I had everything I needed for a filling and nutritious meal. Out she came with pasta fagioli! Thats mama.. she was always able to create something from nothing!!
I make various types of pasta fagioli. In Italy pasta fagioli is made using ‘Bertolli Beans’ or  ‘Canelloni beans’.. but I tend to use red kidney beans or even chick peas.