pasta fagioli

My grandparents are wonderful cooks. Part of the reason I cook, is because my grandparents are so good at it. They live in Baltimore, so I don't see them as often as I would had I never moved away from home. Making their recipes makes me feel close to them, and to the rest of my family. For my high school graduation, my grandmother compiled a cookbook of all of our family recipes. Pasta fagioli is a recipe from that book that I have eaten many times, but never made myself. My grandfather describes this meal as "depression-era peasant food", because it's filling and cheap, but, it's also delicious and perfect for these below freezing NY temperatures.

I ate like a real lunatic yesterday, and suffered the consequences with a dose of stomach cramping in the evening. Today, while talking to my friend Chiara- possibly the only person who regularly reads this blog, what up cutie- I decided to get back on track and give up dairy for lent. (Two days late, sue me). So, here is a dairy-free, gluten-free version of Pasta Fagioli. The great thing about it is that it tastes almost EXACTLY like the original. Had I used turkey bacon instead of regular, it would also be a fully Elimination Diet meal.

Pasta Fagioli

(slightly adapted from my grandfather Manual Alvarez's recipe)

3 large stripes of bacon

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cans cannelloni beans

1 c chicken stock

1 lb gluten-free pasta (elbow or ditali)

nutritional yeast and red pepper flakes to sprinkle on top

Fry the bacon in a large dutch oven, remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add onion, olive oil and garlic to bacon grease and sauté until soft. Add both cans of beans (do not drain) and chicken stock. Simmer for fifteen minutes or so, to let the flavors set.

Cook pasta according to the instructions on the box. Drain and add to the above. Mix well. Spoon pasta into bowls. Chop up the bacon. Sprinkle nutritional yeast, bacon bits and red pepper on top of pasta. Dig in!!

(PS: This recipe is v. good, possibly even better, on the second day, after having sat in the fridge.)