Pasta e Fageoli Soup
A warming bowl of soup never fails to soothe my bones on a wet and windy December day. I think sometimes we forget that we can rest, just opt out of whatever busyness threatens to sweep us up and away from the beautiful simplicity of a slow afternoon spent stirring a pot of soup and letting the steam cleanse the worry lines from our face. Try it.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound italian sausage
1 onion, diced
2 teaspoons salt
4 carrots, roughly chopped
4 celery stalks, roughly chopped
1/2 head of green cabbage, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 18 oz. jar of diced tomatoes
about 16 ounces of chicken broth
1 can cannelini beans
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 box of elbow pasta (we love jovial brown rice pasta)
Directions:
In a large pot, like a dutch oven, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the sausage in and let it brown thoroughly. Use a wooden spoon to break it into little pieces. Once the sausage is browned, add the onion into the pot with the salt. Let the onion soften and caramelize while you chop the other vegetables. Add the carrots and let them cook for 5 minutes while you chop the celery. Add the celery and let that cook for about 5 minutes while you chop the cabbage. This is how soup making works! Before you add the cabbage, add the red wine vinegar to the pot and scrape the bottom bits up as the liquid heats. There is so much flavor in the pan scrapings! Add the cabbage, the tomatoes, the chicken broth, and the beans. Give it a gentle and loving stir. Tuck the sprigs of thyme down into the soup and place the lid on for a little simmer. Let the soup gently burble about, marrying all the flavors for about an hour. This is the type of soup I like to get going right after lunch and let it simmer all afternoon. It feels like a gift at dinnertime when you open the lid to find dinner done.
Right before serving, cook the pasta in boiling water according to the package instructions. Place a few scoops of pasta in the bottom of each bowl before ladling the warm soup on top. Shower with parmesan and enjoy!
