BEANY PASTA SOUP

a rebellion against January misery

Happy new year!

We made it to 2024, to another year and another January. I hope you had a wonderful break and a good rest ahead of the new year, and if you didn’t, I am sending my love to you. I’m keenly aware that the festive season isn’t always a happy one for everyone, and that January can be even harder. There really isn’t much we can do about the weather, the darkness or the never ending winter, but there are lots of things we can do to keep morale high. Every year I struggle with the truck load of bullsh*t I get from the diet and weightloss industries, in the press and on social media, telling me what I should be doing with my food. January is hard enough without us all feeling terrible about our bodies too. I don’t believe restriction or demonisation of foods is good for us, certainly not in the long run. Instead I like to focus on nourishing my body with warming, nutritious and filling foods, that will be a highlight in my day, something to look forward to, that brings me joy. Those foods are nearly always well balanced, healthy and nutritious - what a bonus that they are delicious and joyful too!

I encourage you to join me in ignoring the January diet noise and focus instead on what makes you happy, what you find delicious and what will warm you to your bones on these cold, dark, windy nights.

This beany pasta soup is all of the above, it freezes very well, can be easily made vegan and GF, and is frankly, the MVP of my first week back to work. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Stay cosy, Rosie x

BEANY PASTA SOUP

Make this soup with the best possible ingredients you can find, and you will thank yourself. Good beans, parmesan and olive oil go a long way, and while it’s made up of pantry staples, you probably already have the ingredients in the house anyway, making it an incredibly affordable meal that could easily feed a family of six. To keep it vegan, skip the parmesan, and to make it GF, use a gluten free pasta.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

- 1 carrot, finely diced

- 3 x white onion, finely diced

- 4 x garlic cloves, finely diced

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 tsp sea salt

- 2 tbsp tomato paste

- 0.5 tsp chilli flakes

- A large glass of white wine

- 300 ml veg stock

- a hunk of parmesan rind

- 2 bay leaves

- 2 x 400g tins (or one 700g jar) of your favourite beans such as borlotti, haricot or cannellini.

- 300g tiny pasta (such as fregola, ditalini or orzo)

- 100g chopped, washed leafy greens, such as kale, spinach or cabbage

- 50g grated parmesan and extra virgin olive oil to top

Method:

1. In a large, heavy bottomed pot, over a medium high heat, fry the carrot, onion and garlic in the olive oil and sea salt. Cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, so it doesn’t catch, until you have a jammy soffritto that’s starting to caramelise at the edges.

2. Add the tomato paste and chilli flakes and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring to incorporate.

3. Add the white wine, stirring to deglaze the pan and any bits that have stuck to the bottom. Then add the stock, parmesan rind, bay leaves and beans.

4. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by a third, stirring occasionally.

5. Add the pasta and stir to combine, there should be enough liquid to just cover the pasta, if not, add a little boiling water.

6. Cook for another 10 minutes, then just before serving, stir in the greens until they are wilted. You can add more water to get the soup to your preferred consistency I like it to be quite chunky and not too watery. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or chilli flakes if necessary.

7. Serve a big bowl topped with grated parmesan, a drizzle of good olive oil and a twist of black pepper.