Pasta & Beans Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

-  200g of dried beans

-  from 1 to 3 teaspoons of salt

-  2 tablespoons of olive oil

-  1 finely chopped medium onion

-  1 finely chopped stick of celery

-  3 carrots, halved lengthways and sliced

-  2 medium potatoes cut into pieces

-  1-2  cloves of garlic

-  100g of short pasta

-   ground chilli (optional), extra virgin oil

Directions

Soak dried beans in cold water overnight.

Put the finely chopped onion, celery, and garlic into a saucepan with a little extra virgin olive oil and cook as gently as possible, with the lid on until all the vegetables are soft, but not brown.

Drain your beans well and rinse them in cold water, then add them to the pan and cover with water.  Add the salt and leave them  gently simmer for at least one hour or more, till they get soft.

Now take a couple of ladles of beans and put them aside.

With a  blender mash the vegetables and part of the beans so as to make a smooth thick cream to which you will now add the beans you had put aside. Season to taste with salt (if needed) and pepper. Add a short kind of pasta and add a little more boiling water, should your soup be too thick.

Before serving drizzle with extra olive oil.

EXTRA TIP

• If you are short of time you can use tinned beans.
• Try adding some chilly: it will taste great
• You can make the soup a day in advance, apart from pasta which must be cooked at the moment. It will taste even better!