I remember the first time that I heard of pasta fagioli. It was at the yearly all women St. Josephs day luncheon that my Italian grandma (in law) would host. Granny was talking about how her pasta fagioli, was better than aute Glo's pasta fagioli. I honestly didn't eat either one because I think elbow noodle should only been used in my grandma famous mac and cheese. I wish I would have tried it before he passed away. Many year later my mother in law made it and again, and she used elbow noodles., lots of tomato's sauce and sliced ham. I told my husband that I liked it but thought the favors mixed too much and I couldn't taste the beans. The next day, my husband yelled at me to come in and watch the food channel. David Rocco was making his version of pasta fagioli (which by the way is pasta with beans), and I was hooked. It looked easy and very tasty.
1. Boil up some spaghetti pasta ($1) to a la dente (or to the tooth or a little tough). I cut the pasta in small portion to make it easier to eat in this dish. I cut eat pasta 3 times in length.
2. Meanwhile, saute onion, carrots, celery, couple chopped tomatos and garlic with ground Italian sausage. David Rocco used prosciutto, which is expensive and I don't really like anyway. You could use bacon but I thought the sausage gave it more substance. I just happened to have 2 left over sausage links that I de-cased ($1)
3. Once meat is well cooked, add in a can of white beans or Italian cannellini bean. I used left over white beans that I boiled up cooked the day before (<$1). 4. Drain the pasta and add to the beans and sausage mixture. I added salt, pepper, and mixed Italian spice. I cut some rosemary from my plant on the patio and added it to the pasta per Davids suggestion. I usually don't use a lot of rosemary but it made this dish stand out.
5. Topped with grated Parmesan and viola!
As a nutritionist, this is a healthy dish because beans are high in fiber and protein. I like to make a batch of dried beans each week. It is amazing what you can do with the beans during the week. Bean are also very economical and filling and great for those on a tight budget. I also used turkey Italian sausage in this dish. It's healthier and usually cheaper.
