This Pasta e Fagioli, you guys, it’s quite possibly the most perfect fall meal, in the history of fall meals and it needs a spot in your weekly meal rotation. So what exactly is it? Pasta e Fagioli, simply translated, is pasta and bean soup. It’s an old timey (we’re getting real historically accurate here, folks) Italian peasant dish made up of simple and inexpensive ingredients, with pasta and beans (naturally) being the main attraction. If you get on the ‘ol Google, you’ll find literally thousands of iterations of this classic soup. My version is adapted from Fine Cooking magazine. I first tore out the recipe from their December 2015 issue, put my own vegan spin on it, and guess what, life has never been the same.
My tendency for hyperbole aside, allow me to explain why this soup is so awesome: it’s fast – like prepped and cooked in just over 30 minutes fast, leaving plenty of time to do more fallish type things like pumpkin carving and shopping for really chunky sweaters; it’s healthy – low in fat, packed with the powerful antioxidant lycopene from a tomato broth, and high in fiber from hearty cannellini beans – you don’t have to worry about wrecking your healthy eating habits just to indulge in a little pasta; and most importantly it’s delicious – crowd pleasing, kid approved, feed this to your pickiest eater and be amazed delicious. The soup starts with a simple saute of garlic, celery, and onion with a hefty pinch of dried basil. Once the aromatics are working, veggie broth and crushed tomatoes are added to the mix then allowed to simmer for a good 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes are up, cannellini beans (my personal preference but any white bean would work) and dried pasta are added to the pot and simmered until the pasta is tender. Oh, ya! Did I forget to mention that this is also a one pot meal?! Less dishes = more time for apple picking.
Not surprising for this carb loving gal, the pasta is my favorite part of this soup. We often use elbow macaroni, which is shown in the pictures, but ditalini is a great substitute if you have it in your pantry (you can also sub in gluten free pasta). Just like my favorite Weeknight Marinara, this soup comes together fast yet tastes like it’s been simmering away for hours in an Italian grandmother’s kitchen. Make it, love it, and repeat all fall long.
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 ribs celery, diced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 5 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 28-oz. can no salt added crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1½ teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 15-oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup dried elbow macaroni or ditalini pasta
- fresh basil and cashew parmesan for serving (optional)
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, celery, onion, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook until veggies are soft and just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add the broth, tomatoes, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes. Remove lid, add the cannellini beans and pasta, and simmer until the pasta is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, season to taste with freshly cracked sea salt and black pepper.
- Serve garnished with cashew parmesan and basil.
I looooooove pasta e fagioli soup! This looks amazing. I have to start making big batches of this for the fall! xo Tiffany http://www.parsnipsandpastries.com
Thanks, Tiffany! It’s definitely perfect for making big batches!
Tomorrow being Halloween, I love making a big pot of soup for anyone to help themselves at anytime! This is the perfect soup to have on the stove waiting! Fast and easy and I have all the ingredients on hand! Thanks!
Such a good idea to have this on hand for friends and family during Halloween festivities!
Do you just double everything to make a huge amount?????
That should work.
Pasta Fagiolo is one of my favorites and your recipe looks wonderful! I have pinned this and I am looking forward to trying the 🙂
Thanks so much, Angela! Would you believe I’d never even heard of pasta e fagioli until last year?!
Excellent recipe, so tasty. I made it today and will be having it for dinner tonite!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing, Michelle!
Divine recipe!!! I came back again for the recipe as I’ve made this one before and it’s so simple, easy and totally delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!
Di
Oh yay! Thanks so much for sharing, Di!
Really delicious and so easy.
Ditto! My favorite kind of recipe! Thank you!
Can you recommend a good vegetable broth?
Hi Ilene, not sure if you have a Sprouts grocery store near you, but I love their store brand of veggie broth. Pacific and Imagine are also two brands that I like because they have the low sodium option.
Thank you
I made this soup and loved it. Sprinkled a little nutritional yeast on top; didn’t have fresh basil. It was so delicious I’m going to make more. Yum!
Glad you loved it, Jeannie!
I found this recipe about six months ago and I’ve probably made it 60 times since then . It is absolutely delicious. I have shared it with everyone. I love how easy it is. Sometimes when I’m making it, I prep extra veggies to pop in the freezer so that it’s even easier to make next time. Thank you so much for this recipe! It just occurred to me that I should probably check out your other recipes because they’re probably just as awesome.
So happy you’ve been so happy with the recipe, Angela! I hope you can find some other meals on the blog that you enjoy just as much. Happy New Year!
Great recipe. I added zucchini and carrots and it was perfect! Will be making this again.
So glad to hear it! Loving the addition of zucchini.
Delicious, easy, fast! My go to fall/winter soup recipe. My picky vegan daughter loves this sans the cheese. A family favorite. Thank you!
Oh, yay! So glad your family and especially your daughter are enjoying the soup.
Just made it today. I didn’t have any broth on hand, so just used water and still, it was absolutely delicious. Will definitely be doing this again. Just wanted to say thank you for the great recipe!
For health reasons, we don’t use oil at all so we just sautéed the vegetables in water instead of the olive oil and the soup turned out great. The last time we did the recipe we added zucchini and mushrooms to the other veggies and we liked it even more. We have also used gluten-free pasta with excellent results. We live in a warm climate, but we still make this often.
Thanks so much for sharing your take on the soup, Terry! Glad you could adapt it to suit your family’s dietary needs!
Excellant soup
Would make it again
Love this make it regularly. I do use extra thick crushed tomatoes. 👍