How Italians Turn Zucchini, Beans & Greens into a Healthy Pasta Meal | Patch to Plate Series

How Italians Turn Zucchini, Beans & Greens into a Healthy Pasta Meal | Patch to Plate Series

If you are looking for a healthy Italian pasta recipe that is simple, affordable and full of vegetables, this Sicilian-inspired combination of zucchini, cannellini beans and leafy greens turns everyday ingredients into a satisfying one-pot meal. Fresh tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, chilli, basil and small pasta shells create a beautiful broth that brings everything together.

The inspiration comes from the Sicilian dish zucchini, tenerumi (the zucchini leaves) and fagioli (beans), traditionally made with long Sicilian zucchini and its tender leaves. I have cooked it with what our garden gave us: round and yellow zucchini, rainbow chard and beet leaf spinach. You can use whatever zucchini and leafy greens you have, including spinach, spring greens or cabbage.

I use cannellini beans, although borlotti or other beans work equally well, and small pasta shells because I love how the beans find their way inside them. Macaroni is another good choice, or you could replace the pasta with potatoes.

This is not a creamy pasta dish. The vegetable and bean broth is an important part of the meal, with the pasta cooking directly in it and absorbing all those wonderful flavours. It is naturally vegan, not because it was designed to be, but because so much traditional Italian and Sicilian home cooking simply happens to be that way.

After cooking, we quietly return to the garden to see some of today's vegetables being picked. You do not need to grow everything you eat. Even bringing a little from your own garden into the kitchen can make an everyday meal feel special.

This is simple Sicilian-inspired home cooking that quietly looks after you, one spoonful at a time.

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INGREDIENTS

500g (1.1 lb) zucchini, cut into pieces
300g (10½ oz) fresh plum tomatoes, halved
1 × 400g (14 oz) tin cannellini beans, including the liquid
A generous bunch of rainbow chard and beet leaf spinach
200g (8 oz) small pasta shells (conchiglie), or macaroni
1 onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 dessert spoon tomato purée
1 mild fresh chilli, sliced
Dried chilli flakes, to taste
Fresh basil, a generous handful
Extra virgin olive oil
750ml (3 cups) boiling water, plus more if needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD
Warm some extra virgin olive oil over medium heat and gently soften the onion. Add the roughly chopped garlic, fresh chilli and chilli flakes and cook for about 2 minutes, keeping the heat moderate so the garlic does not burn.

Add the tomato purée and fresh tomatoes. Mix everything together and cook for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes begin releasing their juices.

Add the zucchini, mix well, cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the cannellini beans with their liquid, some fresh basil and 750ml (3 cups) of boiling water. Bring everything to the boil.

Add the pasta shells directly to the pot. I love shells because the beans find their way inside them, but macaroni works beautifully too. Cook the pasta for approximately half its stated cooking time before adding the greens.

Roughly chop the chard and beet leaf spinach. If the stems are young and tender, use them too. Otherwise remove the tougher ones. You can also use spinach, spring greens or cabbage.

Add all the greens to the pot. Do not worry if it looks like far too much because they will quickly collapse. Cover briefly, then mix everything together and continue cooking until the pasta is ready. In a brothy dish like this, the pasta does not have to remain very al dente unless that is how you prefer it.

Taste and adjust the seasoning. Turn off the heat, add more fresh basil and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, then cover and rest for a minute.

Serve with plenty of the broth. Do not try to cook it down into a creamy sauce because the broth is an important part of this dish. Leftovers can be refrigerated and gently reheated the following day.

CHAPTERS
00:00 A healthy Sicilian-inspired pasta meal
01:48 Preparing the ingredients
03:09 Building the tomato and zucchini base
07:12 Beans, pasta and garden greens
10:34 Finishing and serving
12:58 Back into the garden

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