Cook like an Italian, speak like an American--Get ready for a party in your mouth, people.
Seeing as how my attempts to "will" summer here have failed (Note: summer dresses and Birkenstock sandals have not produced warm weather in Rome), I'm deferring to an approach my grandmother used to advocate: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em". In this case, the 'em is the weather, and joining it means making dishes that are normally good for crispy fall weather. It also means not complaining about said weather (a friend and all around cool person recently helped me realize doing so is not only perfunctory, it's lame because there are others around the globe who are dealing with MUCH worse!--shameless plug for this friend's blog: www.arlenegibbsdecor.com). No for real, check her out. She co-wrote the script for Jumping the Broom and does great interior decorating as well.
Anyway, like I was saying, I have decided to embrace these unseasonably cool temps and cook like a champ (or an Italian) while we all wait it out.
I'd never had pasta e fagioli (pasta with beans) before moving to Rome, and I was hooked from the first taste. I cooked the recipe below myself-it's an adaptation of my mother in law's recipe. It's delicious, of course, and simple because you just need to throw together some veggies, beans, and pasta to make what tastes like a very complicated dish. Enjoy!
If you like this post, don't forget to hit the Facebook "Like" button at the top of the page!
Seeing as how my attempts to "will" summer here have failed (Note: summer dresses and Birkenstock sandals have not produced warm weather in Rome), I'm deferring to an approach my grandmother used to advocate: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em". In this case, the 'em is the weather, and joining it means making dishes that are normally good for crispy fall weather. It also means not complaining about said weather (a friend and all around cool person recently helped me realize doing so is not only perfunctory, it's lame because there are others around the globe who are dealing with MUCH worse!--shameless plug for this friend's blog: www.arlenegibbsdecor.com). No for real, check her out. She co-wrote the script for Jumping the Broom and does great interior decorating as well.
Anyway, like I was saying, I have decided to embrace these unseasonably cool temps and cook like a champ (or an Italian) while we all wait it out.
I'd never had pasta e fagioli (pasta with beans) before moving to Rome, and I was hooked from the first taste. I cooked the recipe below myself-it's an adaptation of my mother in law's recipe. It's delicious, of course, and simple because you just need to throw together some veggies, beans, and pasta to make what tastes like a very complicated dish. Enjoy!
 |
| boil your homemade vegetable broth |
 |
| choose the veggies you want to include in the pasta e fagioli |
 |
| chop and prepare as you wish |
 |
| cover the surface of a separate pan in olive oil and add chopped onion--simmer |
 |
| throw in your chopped veggies...and some beans |
 |
| it's better if you use fresh beans that have been soaked, but we won't tell anyone if you use the canned version... Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. |
 |
| 1 can of beans looks like this |
 |
| add the seasonings you prefer--salt, pepper, rosemary, green onion, and thyme are what I normally go with |
 |
| by now your veggie broth should look like this |
 |
| ladle in the broth and cover the bean/veggie mixture completely |
 |
| boil on medium high for 30 minutes or so |
 |
| until it looks creamy like this |
 |
| throw in some pasta (how much you use will vary based on how thick or thin you want your pasta e fagioli) |
 |
| 12 minutes later... |
 |
| all important "taste test"...you want the pasta "al dente". |
 |
| Yummmmm. Perfect thing to warm you up on a cool day. |
No comments:
Post a Comment