Ingredients
3 oz pancetta
2 tbsp olive oil
1 diced onion
1 cup diced celery
4 minced garlic cloves
4 cups chicken broth
1 (28-oz) can plum tomatoes, crushed fine
2 cups water, plus more as needed
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried Italian herb blend (mine was thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil)
red pepper flakes to taste
1 cup freshly shucked cranberry beans (aka shelling beans)
2 or 3 cups chopped cabbage
1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 bunch swiss chard, chopped
2/3 cup raw ditalini pasta
extra virgin olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and fresh Italian parsley to garnish the top
Steps
- Start with a handful of chopped pancetta, saute that over medium heat and little bit of olive oil until not quite brown. When it just starts to look like it's going to brown, throw in the onions and diced celery and cook those vegetable for about 4 min until the onions just start to turn translucent. At that point add some minced garlic, stir that in and cook for about a minute.
- After the garlic cooks for about a minute, dump in the chicken stock, some water and 1 can of crushed plum tomatoes. Give it a stir and bring to a simmer. Dump in the beans, chopped cabage, chickpeas, pepper flakes, italien herbs, a big pinch of salt. When that comes up to simmer bring down the heat to medium low and simmer that until the beans are tender (around 45 min).
- Meanwhile, prepare the greens. Clean and chop the swiss chard. Check the soup and add water if it's getting too thick. Once the beans are cooked, dump in the greens and stir and simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning before adding the pasta. Dump in the pasta, turn up the heat to medium-high. 15 minutes later, as soon as the pasta is tender, ladel and server.