Easy Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta & Beans)

Easy, Hearty and Delicious!



This is a traditional Italian soup, and it's a meal in itself.  Just add a salad, a loaf of warm, crusty Italian Bread (garlic bread would be great, too.)  That's it...dinner is ready!   

The original 30 minute meal! 

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil                                        
1 carrot, diced                                           
1 stalk celery, diced                                   
1 thin-sliced onion, diced                       
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic                            
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce                                   
1 c. water                                                            
1 (14 oz.) can chicken or beef broth
Salt & Pepper to taste

1/2 Tbsp. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. dried basil

2 (15oz) cans Cannellini beans, drained & rinsed

1 1/2 c. D'Italini pasta  

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. 



Sauté carrot, celery and onion until soft.  Add garlic and sauté briefly.  Stir in tomato sauce, water, chicken broth, parsley and basil; salt and pepper to taste; simmer for 20 minutes. 

While that's simmering, bring a large pot of water to a boil; add D'Italini pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until al dente; drain....or bring soup to a rapid boil and add pasta. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally 6-8 minutes or until pasta is cooked al dente. (I like using the second method because that's one less pan I have to clean. LOL!) 

Add beans to the sauce mixture and simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir prepared pasta into the sauce and bean mixture.  Garnish with some grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.  Time to pass the crusty bread and mop up your bowl.  

A Tip from Grammy:

-If you choose to boil your pasta first, add just before serving. The pasta likes to soak up all the liquid in the soup if added too soon. 

 -This is one of those recipes you can add chunks of ham, sausage, diced potatoes, escarole or any leafy green vegetable and spice it to your own taste.  Sometimes, I use crushed tomatoes instead of sauce, and it gives it a fresher tomato flavor.  Whichever way you like it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.  Make it your own, friends, and have fun in the kitchen!  

Be encouraged!

"The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore."  -Psalm 121:8

Half Moons aka Black and Whites

Vanilla Half Moon Cookies



Click to enlarge



These delicious cake-like cookies have been around for more than a century. I don't know how they got started, but they are a staple at restaurants, coffee shops, delis and bakeries all over New York, New Jersey and beyond. The name says it all, Half Moons aka Black and Whites! 

These large, dome shaped cookies are iced with two of my favorite flavors. One half of the bottom of the cookie is covered with a white vanilla frosting, the other half with chocolate frosting. My recipe is handed down from my mom and I haven't met anyone yet who doesn't  love these magical cookies1

The batter is firm enough to 'drop' by 1/4 cupfuls onto your baking sheet. It is important not to over bake these cookies as we do not want them to be dry. They are done when the edges and bottoms of the cookies are just beginning to turn brown (a toothpick inserted into the center of the cookie will just come out clean). 
 
What makes these so unique is that you put the frostings on the flat bottom side of the cookies, so the bottoms now become the tops. The recipe makes about 30 large cookies, so if you prefer a smaller amount, simply half the recipe.  I frost all the cookies with the white frosting first, then add cocoa powder to the remaining frosting to make it chocolate and frost the other side of the cookie.

 My granddaughter, Andrea, requested them for her birthday dessert.  It wasn't easy getting all those candles on one, but she did it!  Can you tell she loves these cookies? 

I promise you will be so glad you tried these.  Who knows...you may be making them for someone's birthday too!

                                                                        
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Cream the above ingredients, then add...

1 c. sour milk (1 Tbsp. white vinegar, then add milk to make 1 cup)
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix well.  Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto a greased baking sheet, rounding off the tops to make a thick-like looking pancake.  Bake at 375' F. for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are bottoms are just beginning to brown.  DO NOT OVER-BAKE, you don't want them to be dry.  Cool them on a wire rack.  Once cooled completely, it's time to frost them.  Remember to turn them upside down and frost the bottom.

FROSTING:
1/2 c. butter, softened                   
4 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
5-6 Tbsp. milk

In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve desired consistency.   Yield: About 3 cups.

Frost the cookies on half of the bottom side with the vanilla frosting.  Then add 1 oz. of unsweetened melted chocolate or Hershey's Unsweetened Baking Cocoa and mix well.  (You may have to add a little more milk to this.)   Now, frost the other half and there you have it...Half Moons!


Be encouraged!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."  -Galatians 5:22-23