Pasta Fagioli

3 days until Christmas, really?!?!

How’d that happen already 😛

Well I must say that today was quite the glorious day.  Busy busy and just fantastic.

And lucky for us, dinner was much of the same!

Pasta Fagioli

This is a recipe that I’ve had at The Man’s family’s house many times and one that I always enjoy. 

And with Lil’ Sis being home I thought this was the perfect time to try to make this recipe on my own since she’s never tried it!

Plus I figured I’d score a few points with The Man as well 😉

So I made a few phone calls and got the details I needed to recreate this dish…  which I stuck to for the most part (shocking, I know).

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1.25 lbs chicken breast, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 32 oz. chicken broth
• 32 oz. water
• 3 cans great Northern beans, undrained
• 1 jar pasta sauce
• 3/4 package ditalini pasta
• 1 tblsp dried basil
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• black pepper to taste
• shredded Parmesan cheese to serve

Start by cooking the onion and chicken in olive oil over medium-high heat until mostly cooked through.  Add garlic towards the end of cooking, season with some black pepper while you’re at it.

Then in goes the chicken broth and water.  Bring up to a boil then turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes is up, in goes the pasta sauce, beans, basil and a lil’ more pepper if you like.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer, cooking for another 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Once time is up, bring to a boil and add in your pasta – cooking according to directions.  Once the pasta is done, turn heat down and let the mixture sit for another 10 minutes or so to get nice n’ thick and delicious.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and prepare to make your mouth happy happy!

Love the way these flavors come together, the chicken is a perfect match for the beans and when covered in a luscious warm thick tomato cheese “sauce” it just doesn’t get much better 🙂

If you like your veggies, serve some salads too!

Salad for 3 😀

Romaine, green apple, onion, crushed pecans topped with my new favorite cherry balsamic vinaigrette.

So refreshing and the perfect match for this hearty dinner.

Lil’ Sis was a huge fan of this meal and The Man gave my recreation of his family’s classic a thumbs up! 😀

Definitely likin’ that.

Tell me, have you ever tried pasta fagioli?

I’ll tell you that before meeting The Man I had never heard of this dish before!

Here’s to hoping that tomorrow will be as wonderous as today!  Lil’ Sis and I are starting our morning with a yoga session with the Traveling Yoga Sisters so I’m pretty sure it will be 😉