Cooking Time: 15 minutes or less
Makes: about 3 servings.
No, it isn't an Italian curse. Packed with beans, pasta and veggies, this is a delicious, fully loaded concoction that falls somewhere between a spoonable soup and a forkable pasta dish.
Ingredients
1 tbsp (15 mL) | olive or vegetable oil |
1 | small carrot, chopped |
1 | stalk celery |
1 | small onion, chopped |
1 | clove garlic, squished |
3 cups (750 mL) | chicken or vegetable broth |
19 oz can (540 mL) | red or white kidney beans, undrained |
1/ cup (125 mL) | small pasta, like shells, ditali or elbows |
salt and pepper to taste |
Directions
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery, onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
- Now, dump about half of the can of beans (and the liquid) into a small bowl. With a potato masher (or a fork), have your child mash the beans until they are quite disintegrated. Add the mashed beans to the pot with the veggies, then stir in the remaining unmashed beans and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Stir in the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender but not mushy (about 8 to 10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste. (If you are using canned chicken broth you may not need additional salt.) Serve immediately, or spoon into a Thermos and send to school along with a small container of grated Parmesan cheese for sprinkling.