Pasta e Figioli and 3-Step Garlic Bread

Recently, I've decided to take a page from the book of the 101 Cookbooks blog. The author started her blog because she had a habit of buying lots of cookbooks, and still making the same dishes she knew over and over again. So, her blog began as an outlet for her to actually try recipes from her cookbooks.

I'm guilty of the same thing: I love cookbooks but I actually rarely cook from them. I also love pinning recipes on Pinterest, but rarely make them. Same with recipes from blogs I like. The list goes on, all containing uncooked recipes that I say, "Hmm, that sounds good!" about, and then promptly forget.

So! I'm going to make an effort to actually start to use my cookbooks and my pinned recipes. Of course, I make no promises on altering the recipes (which is a good thing because I started with this one!).

Today, we're making one of my mom's favorites: Pasta e figioli, AKA pasta fazool AKA pasta and beans. I mostly followed Food Network's Recipe, but as usual made some changes to fit mine and Hubby's tastes--and our pantry, too.

Let's get down to it:

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 5-6

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 carrot, peeled

1 tablespoon dried basil

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 pinch garlic powder

5 cups vegetable bouillon

1 cup water

2 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 can tomatoes with chilies

1 can northern white beans (reduced sodium), rinsed and drained

1 cup macaroni
Salt, to taste

Parmesan cheese, to serve

Directions:

1. Chop your onion.

Mince your garlic.

Pour your olive oil into a large soup pot.

Add in the onions and garlic over low heat until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes.

2. Chop your peeled carrot.

Throw that in, too. (Or gently place it, your choice.)

Cook for another 3-5 minutes.

3. While that's going, chop your tomatoes. (It was about here that I started to really regret the color choice of my cutting board for a tomato-based dish...That was a little dumb of me.)

Add your basil and oregano to the soup pot.

Stir well, and immediately add the tomatoes.

Make sure with the tomatoes and chilies that you don't drain them--the juice adds flavor, too!

Also add in the bouillon and the water.

I have a problem with kale (the problem of liking it and having it in the house) so I chopped some of that and threw it in, too.

4. Cover and bring to a rolling boil. I didn't follow Food Network's directions and simmer for 30 minutes, since I let all the veggies get more tender than they did before the stock was added. I only simmered for about 5-7 minutes before grabbing my pasta.

I used macaroni, but since macaroni is a liquid-guzzler, feel free to use another pasta like penne or ditalini like Food Network calls for.

Add that in now, along with the beans.

While the pasta is boiling, also add in the garlic and onion powders.

Follow the directions on the pasta box for how long to cook it, and then call this baby done!

Here she is, by herself.

But wait, there's more! 99% of soups are better with some parmesan on top. (Shredded, this time)

And if you're feeling like taking it one step, further, add some easy-peasy 3-step garlic bread:

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook time: 2 minutes

Serves: 2 (or 4, if you just want a teensy bit per person)

Ingredients:

4 slices bread (I used tomato basil bread from Panera)

3 tablespoons butter (more or less as needed)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (more or less as needed)

Directions:

1. Toast your bread.

2. Butter your bread.

3. Sprinkle a very thin layer of garlic powder on top of your bread.

The end! It's the most difficult thing you'll make all week, I know--I'm sorry. Tastes great with the pasta e figioli, though!

In fact I am now regretting that I didn't bring any bread to go with my leftovers for lunch, today.

Oh, well.

Enjoy!