Pasta e fagioli is a classic Italian soup, basically a pasta bean soup. Many recipes abound, but here you will find a simple flavorful vegan version where kidney and cannoli beans star amid a backup cast of tomatoes, carrots, celery onions and garlic. The perfect winter soup, this dish comes together in under 45 minutes. Buon appetito!
Heat olive oil in large cast iron pot on medium heat. If choosing no oil, see Recipe Notes.
Sauté onion until translucent, about 5-8 minutes.
Add garlic and bayleaf and continue sautéing for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Add broth, beans, celery, carrots, onion and spices. Hold off on the salt until the end, then salt to taste.
With gloved (or super-clean) hand, squeeze tomatoes, one at a time, into the pot. Pour in remaining tomato liquid.
Simmer soup on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.
While soup simmers, prepare pasta according to package instructions. Drain, mix with a little olive oil and set aside.
After 15 minutes, remove the bay leaf from the soup pot.
Blend about half of the soup with an immersion blender. (Alternately, remove about half of the soup from the pot to a standing blender, purée then return to pot.
Taste soup and add salt and pepper as you like.
Finish the soup with a squeeze of the lemon half and toss in parsley.
Serve over prepared pasta, about 1/2 a cup of pasta per bowl.
To make this dish virtually oil free, skip the olive oil in the recipe. Just spray the pot with cooking spray before sautéing the onions and garlic. You can add a few tablespoons and your broth to the pot as well.