Thanks for this Eva. I've been searching for recipes that include chard as I have it coming out of my ears. This will go on the menu this week, but will go a little heavier on the chard.
[quote author="EvaLSeraphim" date=1225708832]So... we were at the <a href="http://www.anaheimwhitehouse.com/">Anaheim White House</a> semi-recently and had their Pasta e Fagioli Soup. Sadly, the recipe isn't found in their <a href="http://www.anaheimwhitehouse.com/temptation.php">cook book</a> (which gives a whole new meaning to the term "food porn").
I happened to find a similarly named recipe in<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Spoon-Phaidon-Press/dp/0714845310/"> The Silver Spoon</a> cookbook, and tweaked it to try to replicate the White House recipe. It wasn't quite like the White House, but it was pretty good.
Serves 4 (as a meal)
2 cups dried white beans (or two cans of white beans, ~15 oz each, <strong>rinsed,</strong> for ease and to save time)
2 Tbsp olive oil (divided as described below)
1 lb sweet Italian sausage (recommend <a href="http://claros.com/">Claro's</a>)
4 sage leaves
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 cups (approx) strained tomatoes (found at Pavilions, and not at Claro's, oddly. I used a box of Pomi that weighed 26.455 oz because that is what was available. You can substitute tomato sauce, but will likely need less salt, as the strained tomatoes do not contain salt)
Water (enough so that the amount of strained tomatoes plus the water equals 6 1/2 cups)
Swiss chard, torn into pieces (per your preference, but I used three medium leaves)
1 cup dried <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pasta">Ditali or Ditalini pasta</a> (looks like half a macaroni noodle)
Salt and pepper
I used a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Creuset-Enameled-Cast-Iron-4-Quart-Cobalt/dp/B000ND7EDU/">Le Creuset 4 1/4 qt soup pot</a>. It was sufficient, but a tad small.
<em>If using dry beans,</em> on the night before you are serving the soup, put beans into a pan and add cold water to cover. Soak overnight. Drain. On the day you are preparing the soup, put the beans into a pan, add cold water to cover, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about two hours. Drain the beans. If using canned beans, on the day you prepare this rinse the beans well and set aside.
Heat your soup-cooking vessel over medium heat. When warm, add 1 tbsp olive oil. In the meantime, remove sausage meat from the skins and break up. Throw away skins. When the vessel and oil are hot, add the sausage meat and cook, occasionally stirring and breaking up the meat. When browned and cooked through, remove sausage meat from vessel with a slotted spoon into a bowl lined with one or two paper towels. Carefully use a paper towel to soak up the oil out of the vessel, but remove as few brown bits as you can.
While the sausage is cooking, place half the beans into a food processor or blender and puree. Set aside. Add the remaining tbsp of olive oil to the pan and heat. Add sage leaves and garlic, and saute for a few minutes (until aromatic). Add the bean puree, strained tomatoes, water, the remaining whole beans, and Swiss chard to the vessel. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add the Ditali and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until al dente.
If you want to make a vegetarian / vegan version, I think you could. Don't use the sausage (duh), but I think you will need to compensate with other spices, particularly fennel.
We paired this with a <a href="http://www.palminawines.com/wines/redwines.html">Palmina Alisos</a>, which was very yummy indeed.</blockquote>
She calls it The Next Best Thing To Robert Redford. I call it The Next Best Thing To George Clooney and Brad Pitt :red: