Vegan Pasta e Fagioli with Instant Pot Option [Oil Free]

Pasta e fagioli (or pasta fazool) is a traditional Italian dish made with pasta and beans, perfect for cold nights.

Ingredients

1 yellow onion finely chopped
2 large carrots peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1/2 glass of white wine
19 ounces red kidney beans drained and rinsed
19 ounces white kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 cup tomato sauce or crushed canned tomatoes
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 tablespoon crushed fresh basil
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
1.5 cups of ditalini or ditalini pasta

Instructions

Add onion, carrot, and celery to a deep pan or saucepan with a tablespoon or two of water. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
Pour in the wine and continue sautéing until the wine is mostly absorbed by the vegetables. This will take about 4-5 minutes.
Add all remaining ingredients except noodles, mix well and cook with the lid open for about 20 minutes. Then add the pasta, mix and continue cooking with the lid closed, but beating lightly for another 10 minutes until al dente. Do not overcook.
Remove and discard the bay leaves. Then serve and enjoy!

Instant Pot Recipe

Set your pan to sauté and add the onion, carrot, and celery with a tablespoon or two of water. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Then add the wine and continue sautéing until the wine is mostly absorbed by the vegetables. This will take about 4-5 minutes.
Add all remaining ingredients and an extra 1 cup of water (7 cups total instead of 6) and mix well. Close the lid by moving the valve to the sealing position. Set the pot to high pressure for 4 minutes (it takes about 10-15 minutes to reach pressure) and let it go when done.
Remove the lid as soon as possible to prevent the noodles from overcooking. Discard the bay leaves and serve.

notes

The alcohol content will cook from the wine, but you can skip this if you want. Note that it adds nice body and flavor, so I highly recommend it if you have it on hand.
Cook with the lid of your pot closed so that the soup does not evaporate too much. The pasta will absorb the excess liquid, so you don’t have to worry about reducing your broth.
Do not cook the noodles until they are ready to eat, as they will absorb the water once they sit.
Be careful not to overcook your pasta. The longer it cooks, the more broth it will absorb. It’s best when it’s a little lacking or “al dente”.
For a creamy vegan pasta e fagioli, you can cook 1-2 glasses of the food you cooked, then put it back in the pot and mix it.
It tastes better when made fresh, but leftovers stay in the fridge for 3-4 days. You may need to add extra broth when reheating, as the pasta will continue to absorb the water.
If you think the pasta will increase, cook the pasta separately and store it separately from the soup for best results.
If you are making it for freezing, make your soup without pasta and freeze it, but have the pasta ready to serve. I prefer freshly made pasta as frozen changes its texture.