40 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
A steaming bowl of soup is a wondrous thing, and my take on an Italian classic – ‘pasta e fagioli’, which translates as ‘pasta and beans’ – is the perfect winter warmer. I’ve used kale for a whack of green goodness, while sundried tomatoes give a punch of flavour.
Ingredients
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 sticks of celery
olive oil
2 x 400g tins of cannellini beans
1.2 litres organic vegetable stock
180g kale
150g mixed pasta shapes
1 x 285g jar sundried tomatoes in oil
Top Tip
Add a dollop of leftover sundried tomato paste to stews, sauces and pasta for a big hit of added flavour.
Method
- Peel the onions and garlic, trim the celery, then roughly chop the veg and finely slice the garlic. Place in a large casserole pan on a medium heat with 2 tablespoons of oil and cook for 15 minutes, or until soft and sweet, stirring occasionally.
- Add the cannellini beans (juice and all) and the stock, and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and season with sea salt and black pepper.
- Remove any woody stalks from the kale, then add the leaves to the pan with the pasta. Cover and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente, adding a splash more water to loosen, if needed.
- Meanwhile, blitz the whole jar of sundried tomatoes (oil and all) in a blender to make a smooth paste.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a heaped teaspoon of sundried tomato paste. Delicious served with crusty bread.
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