Italian-Style Beans & Pasta

This is pasta e fagioli’s generous cousin. Three types of beans (chickpeas, great northern, and red kidney), canned tomatoes, pasta, carrots, and celery simmered together into a thick, rustic Italian stew that’s filling enough to be the whole meal.

Keeping the entire can of liquid from the beans is intentional. That starchy bean liquid thickens the broth and gives the stew its body. Combined with three cans of water and diced tomatoes, it creates a cooking liquid with enough volume to cook the pasta right in the pot, where it absorbs flavor and releases starch that makes everything even thicker.

The carrots go in with the pasta and should come out slightly crunchy. That bit of bite gives the stew textural contrast against the soft beans and tender pasta. If you like your stew wetter, add more water. As written, this is thick enough to eat with a fork.

Kitchen Tips

• Don’t drain the beans. The canning liquid adds flavor, starch, and body to the broth. Draining them makes the stew thin and wastes free thickening power.
• Add the pasta last and cook it in the stew rather than separately. It absorbs the seasoned broth and the starch it releases thickens the liquid into a proper stew consistency.
• Three tablespoons of Italian seasoning is correct. It sounds like a lot, but the volume of beans and liquid needs that much to flavor the whole pot.

Variations

• Add sausage: Brown sliced Italian sausage with the garlic and onion for a heartier, meat-based version.
• Greens boost: Stir in a few handfuls of chopped kale or spinach during the last 5 minutes of cooking for added nutrition and color.