Pasta e Fagioli with Italian sausage / parmesan
Classically Italian, Pasta e Fagioli (pasta and beans) combines a variety flavors and satisfying ingredients in a single bowl.
Smarts: To get perfectly cooked pasta in every bite, cook the pasta and soup separately and combine them just before serving. This works great for leftovers too. Storing the pasta separately means it won't get soggy after sitting in liquid for a day or two.
Ingredients
- Cheese, parmesan - 2 oz, grated, rind reserved (if possible)
- Chard, any type - 3 leaves, chopped, leaves and stems separate
- Onions, medium - 1, chopped
- Carrots - 1/2 lb, chopped
- Celery - 2 ribs, chopped
- Pasta, ditalini - 1 cup (sub orzo or any small pasta shape)
- Beans, cannellini or butter (14 oz / 397 g) - 1 can, drained and rinsed
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Italian sausage, uncooked - 8 oz
- Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Tomatoes, crushed (15 oz / 397 g) - 1 can
- Stock, any type - 3 cups
- Thyme, fresh - 2 sprigs
- Lemon juice - 1 tsp
- Hot sauce of choice (opt) - 1 tsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Cheese / Chard / Onions / Carrots / Celery - Prep as directed. Store cheese in one container. Store chard leaves in another container. Combine chard stems, onions, carrots and celery in another container. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Cook pasta - If prepping right before cooking, cook pasta and soup at the same time. Bring large stock pot with salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, tender but not soggy. Drain. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Beans - Drain and rinse.
Make
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil and then chard stems, onions, carrots and celery to heated oil. Saute until onions soften, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add sausage and stir to combine. Saute until sausage begins to break down and brown in spots, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in Italian seasoning and salt and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute more.
- Pour tomatoes, stock, beans, thyme sprigs and parmesan rind (if using) over sausage and vegetables. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes to let the flavors come together.
- Stir in chard leaves, lemon juice and hot sauce (if using). Taste and season with some salt and pepper.
- Remove and discard thyme sprigs and parmesan rind.
- Divide pasta between bowls and ladle soup over top. Top with grated cheese. Enjoy!
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Reviews
This meal has 56 reviews
We used chicken sausage, it was grea
super easy for a weeknight meal!
This is actually one of my favorites, but I made several changes, thus the 3 star rating. Hubby doesn't like beans so I used a diced potato instead (sautéed with the onions, celery, and carrots). I substituted spinach for the chard. I used 1/2 pound ground turkey breast in place of half of the Italian sausage (to keep it a bit leaner). This made an incredibly tasty soup that was great reheated for lunch the next day. I'd recommend that this recipe is re-launched with the above substitutions. It was very good!
Yummy and very filling soup. Great for the wintertime.
This soup got a bit acidic--it might have been the sausage I used. It was fine for dinner, but I was not enthusiastic about the leftovers.
I used a vegan italian sausage and it was divine.