Pasta e Fagioli

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)
• 1 pound of dried cannellini or navy beans
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked ditalini or other small pasta
• Tomato paste, Sunday sauce, or canned whole plum tomatoes

Salt

Directions

1. Wash the beans and soak in water for several hours or overnight. Drain water. Add beans to a large stock pot and add enough generously salted water to cover the beans by about 2 inches. Bring the beans to a boil. Cover, then reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 2 hours. The bean liquid is the soup broth.
2. In a medium size pot, bring about 6 cups of generously salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and reduce heat. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, and set aside.
3. Heat oil in large stock pot, and add garlic and red pepper. When the garlic starts to cook, add tomatoes and stir well. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add 5 cups of beans, including the liquid. Mix well. Then add cooked pasta. Add salt as needed, and simmer for about 10 minutes. The pasta will eventually become soft. Add more bean liquid if you want the fazool to be soupy instead of thick.
4. Note-Omit the sausage for the more traditional pasta e fagioli dish.