[Aarone]

Another one that costs pennies to make....

Pasta E Fagioli

Ingredients

1 sm. chopped onion
Several cloves of minced garlic
½ cup of water
½ - 1 can (approx.) of any small can of Tomato Sauce
Generous pinch of dry basil
Black pepper
1 lg. can of Cannelli Beans, unstrained
1 c. (approx.) of Ditalini macaroni


Directions
In a small saucepan, sauté the onions and half of the garlic in 2 – 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil, until golden brown (optional: remove the onions/garlic from oil after sauté – in the original recipe, they are removed from the oil). To the oil, add the water, approx. ½ cup of Tomato Sauce, the remaining garlic, the basil, and the pepper (rosemary can also be added for a nice twist). Cook the tomato sauce for 20 – 25 minutes, adding more water if the broth thickens, or more tomato sauce if the broth thins. Add the unstrained beans at this point, and cook for an additional 15 – 20 minutes (again, thinning the broth with water as it cooks. Expect to add up to an additional cup of water: you are trying to maintain a soup consistency, not a spaghetti sauce).

In a separate pan, cook the macaroni to a half-finished point (follow box instructions for cooking time). When the macaroni is half-cooked, strain, and add to the bean soup mixture. Cook approx. 10 more minutes (until the macaroni is cooked to the point that you like).

Serve with grated cheese as a topping at the table (if you like).

Possible options for substitutions:

- Replace the Cannelli Beans with drained canned peas or unstrained chick peas.

- Replace the Ditalini macaroni with any other small pasta (shells, elbows) that you enjoy.

- Replace the pasta with diced potato (in this case, cook the potato directly in the soup, rather than on the side).