Pasta E Fagioli

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
12 oz Small Pasta – rotini, elbows, ditalini etc
1/2 Yellow or White Onion, diced
1 carrot, chopped into small pieces,
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz can cannellini beans + aquafaba – Do not drain beans!
1 can whole peeled tomatoes or tomato sauce
Vegetable Stock or Broth (Or water if that’s what you have on hand)

1. Chop and mince your vegetables and garlic, set aside in separate small bowls
2. Boil pasta in large pot according to package directions. Before draining, save a cup of pasta water. Set drained pasta aside.
3. In large skillet over medium heat, heat oil, add carrot pieces and chopped onion, sauté until soft. 5-7 minutes, careful to brown and not burn.
4. Add garlic to onion mix, cook over medium low heat about 30 seconds or until fragrant, remove from heat.
5. If using whole tomatoes, put them in a blender and blend until smooth. If using tomato sauce, you may skip this step.
6. In the pot you cooked noodles in, add tomato sauce, onion, carrot, and garlic mixture, cannellini beans, and noodles. Add enough vegetable stock (or water) to cover veggies by an about an inch. Use reserved pasta water to thin sauce if desired.
7. Simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes,
8. Add noodles. Add more stock or water to achieve desired soup or sauce consistency. If too soupy, simmer until thickened slightly.

Stay Nourished

Note: I used canned beans with the aquafaba. This was the thickening component for my soup/sauce. If you choose to drain your beans or use dried beans you may achieve different results. You can add a little flour to the onion mixture, stir to combine and cook it an additional minute, before adding it to your tomato sauce. This should thicken the soup.
I didn’t have flour or cornstarch at the time, so beans were the answer!