Pasta E Fagioli

My awesome sister got me the America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two cookbook and I must say, it is amazing. The soup I made from it is also amazing. Pasta E Fagioli is one of my favorites and to be honest I have the Olive Garden to thank for my discovery of it.




This recipe is simple, so lets gather some ingredients and get started.


You will need some bacon, canned tomato, white beans, celery, onion or shallot, garlic, small pasta, chicken stock, oregano, and some crushed red pepper.


Chop up your bacon.


Chop up your celery, I did mine the night before because when I get home from work I am usually really hungry.


Chop your onion.


Measure out your beans, pasta, stock and have everything ready to go, that is the key to stress free cooking. Have a plan and be prepared, just like those boy scouts.


Cook the bacon for about 5 minutes or until it begins to brown, then throw in the celery and onion.


Let those cook for about 7 minutes then add the oregano, garlic and red pepper flake. Stir that around for about 30 seconds.


Stir in the tomatoes and the beans and scrape the bottom of the pan to be sure there is no lingering bacony goodness on the bottom.


Bring that to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.


Add in the chicken stock and pasta with some salt and fire the heat back up and let this boil away until the pasta is cooked to your liking, probably about 10-15 minutes. That is it, talk about a quick and delicious dinner.


I love that this made two servings because I was more than happy to have some the next day, I just had to add a bit more chicken stock when I reheated it. I definitely recommend this soup and the great cookbook the recipe came from.