The thick Italian bean and pasta soup, half-blitzed for body, with small gluten-free shapes cooked right in the pot.
Prep
12 mins
Cook
35 mins
Servings
4
Per serving
£1.23
Difficulty
easy
Somewhere between soup and stew, this is peasant cooking at its best. Blending a ladleful of the beans and stirring it back in gives the creaminess that would otherwise take a lot more olive oil.
Warm the olive oil in a large pot and cook the onion, carrot and celery gently for 12 minutes, until soft and sweet with no colour. Add the garlic and rosemary sprig for one minute.
Stir in the tomato puree and let it darken for 30 seconds, then add the drained beans and the stock. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Fish out the rosemary sprig. Ladle about a third of the soup into a jug and blitz it smooth with a stick blender, then stir it back into the pot.
This is the step that makes it taste like it has been simmering for hours. Do not skip it.
Bring back to a simmer, add the gluten-free pasta and cook for the packet time, stirring often so it does not stick to the base.
Gluten-free shapes shed starch quickly, so stir regularly and be ready to add a splash more stock or water.
Season with salt, pepper and the chilli flakes if using. It should be thick enough to hold a spoon upright for a second.
Serve in warm bowls with a swirl of extra virgin olive oil over each.