It's Shake & Bake, and I Helped! - Pasta e Fagioli

Every time that I take new cooking adventure I think of the Shake & Bake commercial from the 60's. The little girl proclaims when the meal is served, "It's Shake & Bake, and I helped!". On Friday night I had my first ever experiment with dried beans when I made Pasta e Fagioli with kidney beans.

I found this recipe on Vanesscipes

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Pasta e Fagioli

1 yellow onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic,minced
3 stalks of celery, sliced
2 carrots, diced
olive oil
5 cups of veggie stock
1 1/2 cups of red wine
1 very large (35 oz) can of tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 (16 oz) bag of dried kidney beans or 3 cans of canned kidney beans*
2 cups elbow macaroni
sploosh of balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper
red pepper flakes
Parmesan cheese, optional

*Cooking dried whole beans produces the best taste but takes the longest. Soak your beans overnight in the fridge (or for at least a few hours) if possible as this cuts down cooking time.
If cooking using a regular cooking method the beans cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
If using a pressure cooker soaked beans take around 15 minutes. Unsoaked beans take about 40 minutes.
If all this is too much work, just use 3 cans of kidney beans, discarding the liquid and rinsing the beans.

Saute onions, garlic, celery and carrots in olive oil for about 5 minutes.

Add the liquids: broth, wine, tomatoes and the herbs: oregano, rosemary, thyme, red pepper and bring to a simmer. Add the beans and cook until beans are soft (see above note for approximate times.)

When the beans are soft, add the macaroni pasta and cook for 10 minutes.
Season with salt, pepper a sploosh of balsamic vinegar.

Serve with grated cheese and more red pepper flakes.

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I wound up soaking my beans for 2 nights since I was too tired to make the dish on Thursday and I didn't do the best job of getting the bean completely soft before I ate the dish (but still tasty). I was out of celery and forgot to add the balsamic vinegar, but a great dish. Definately going on the list.

Here is the photo of my attempt: