Super loving the crisp fall weather and the fact that I finally get to make the things I love so much. This past weekend I gave Pasta Fagioli or as my family says it, Pasta Fa-zool a whirl. I was always used to this soup with tomatoes, but after eating it at my BN (Best Neighbor’s) house, tomato-less and heavy fresh parsley, well spank me silly I had to make my own. I must admit, it was not as good as Margaret’s, and I have some tweaking, but it was damn good and I will share any future adjustments I make.

Like most of the things I try to make, I keep it simple and as fresh as possible. The ingredient list for this stands true to the whole simple is the best mentality.

The difference between my recipe and Peg’s was that I didn’t have the secret ingredient. I didn’t have the ham base. I  looked for it in specialty stores but to no avail. I wanted a product without MSG. I ended up finding what I was looking for on Amazon. This little dude came.

Can’t wait to try it out.

In the meantime, I improvised with a hunk of pancetta and some chicken stock.

Ryan gave me the “this soup was so good I want to bang you look”. So I knew it was.

Enjoy!

Beans and Macaroni 

Ingredients:

Elbow Macaroni

Fresh Parsley

Onion – Finely chopped

Garlic – Finely Chopped

1 inch thick piece of pancetta – diced

Ham Base is preferred, but Chicken Stock will work.

2 cans Cannellini Beans

Fresh grated parmesan

1 tbsp.olive oil

Heat oil in a pot. Dice pancetta and toss in. In the meantime, chop your onion, garlic and parsley. When the pancetta is ready, about 8 minutes, toss in the onion. Sweat it. About 5-7 minutes. Toss in the garlic. 1 minute. Pour in 8-12 c. water and bring to a boil. Add a heaping scoop of chicken stock. Stir, simmer. In another pot boil the macaroni. When it is al dente, drain it. Toss all the chopped parsley and beans in the soup and heat through. To serve. Put a generous amount of macaroni in a bowl. Top with soup and shredded parmesan.