Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli

5 from 1 vote

Slow cooker Pasta e Fagioli is a cheap, comforting Italian pasta and bean soup made from cupboard staples. It’s mostly hands-off, easy to adapt, and my kid loves it topped with lots of cheese.

Prep Time10

Slow Cook1

Total Time1 10

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 474kcal

Author: Carrie Carvalho

Equipment

Slow Cooker

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups frozen soffrito mix diced onion, carrot and celery
1 tbsp diced garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried
2 400g tin of beans like borlotti, haricot, cannellini, chickpeas, kidney beans
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 stock cube chicken or vegetable
1.5 litres hot water
150 grams small pasta like ditalini or macaroni
Parmesan rind optional but recommended

Metric - US Measures

Instructions

If your slow cooker allows (either by using on the hob or with a sear/sautee function), heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the soffritto mix. Cook until just softening, then add the rosemary, oregano, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook another 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, do this in a frying pan then transfer to the slow cooker, or skip this step if you prefer to dump-and-go.
Add all the remaining ingredients including 1.5 litres of hot water to the slow cooker and stir well. Cook on high for 1 hour.
Alternately, add all ingredients except the pasta and cook on low for up to 8 hours or high for up to 4 hours. Add the pasta 45 minutes to 1 hour before intending to serve and cook on high.

Notes

The soup base can cook for up to 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high but you do need to remember to pop the pasta in about 45 minutes to an hour before you want to eat. The absolute maximum time you can leave the pasta cooking on high is 2 hours, after that it will be very mushy.

You can 'dump-and-go' with this recipe and add everything to the slow cooker at once, it will still come out great. But if you have the time/inclination I highly recommend taking those extra couple minutes to fry off the soffritto, garlic and herbs as it really helps bring out the best flavour.

Nutrition