This morning I was fondly remembering brisk, bright mornings at our neighborhood market in Florence and decided to make a soup reminiscent of the ones we so often ate while in Italy.
Josh is having surgery tomorrow so I wanted to make him some soup to have while recovering, yet there wasn’t much in the fridge. Thankfully, the garden had some ripe tomatoes, a few lingering zucchini and the last of the carrots. With that and a few pantry staples I was able to whip up a this tasty zuppa/pasta e fagioli.
zuppa di pasta e fagioli
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 small carrots, diced
1 sweet red pepper, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
6 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed (or fresh if you have it)
3 small tomatoes, diced
2 tbs ultra concentrated tomato paste
6 cups vegetable broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can cannelloni beans
3/4 cup elbow macaroni
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes
Mince the herbs. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is tender. Add all the vegetables except the spinach then add herbs and stir. Add the broth, beans and tomato paste. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the spinach and the macaroni. Cook until the macaroni is al dente, about 8 minutes. Season the soup with ground black pepper and red pepper flakes.
