Pasta Fagioli Soup with Nettle Pesto

Of all the Italian soups I was taught to make, pasta fagioli will always be one of my favorites. Adding common stinging nettles instead of the lacinato kale we would typically use, is a great way to sneak in some of your foraged greens.

If you’re one of the people who enjoy wood nettles as I do, you can use those too. Adding nettles to soup is also traditional in Italy, where they’re known as ortiche, and quick google of “zuppa de ortiche” will show you a whole world of Italian cuisine you never knew. 

At the first restaurant I was taught to make it at, a now closed spot in St. Paul called il Vesco Vino, it was on the menu from the first day I started until the day we closed it. In fact, it was the only soup on the menu, which should tell you something about how popular it was. 

Common stinging nettles are still used in Italian cuisine, where they’re known as Ortiche.

Pasta fagioli (literally pasta and beans) is a rich, comfort food soup along the lines of minestrone, but without a wide array of vegetables. All we used to make it at the restaurant was simple mirepoix, extra sausage leftover from making pizzas and pastas, white beans, and some lacinato kale. Here I do the same, just using homemade lamb sausage and stinging nettles.

For an extra nettle punch, I add some of my pumpkinseed nettle pesto as a garnish.

Since pesto is a fantastic garnish to pasta fagioli, I add some of my pumpkinseed-nettle pesto and a little parmesan to finish. It’s a great, filling soup for a cold day, especially good in the winter if you have some blanched nettles in the freezer, like I did when I made this version.

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Pasta Fagioli Soup with Nettles

A simple pasta fagioli soup based on the Italian classic, with nettles in place of kale. Serves 4

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Course: Appetizer, Soup

Cuisine: American, Italian American

Keyword: Nettle Soup, Stinging Nettles

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1.5 cup beans cooked
• 1 cup each mirepoix
• 1 can whole peeled tomatoes with juice
• 6 cups chicken stock or water in a pinch
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 5 oz sausage link
• 2 large cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup blanched or steamed nettles about 3-4 oz, roughly chopped

Finishing

• 1 cup small pasta, cooked such as shells, macaroni, or rings
• Grated parmesan cheese, to taste
• Nettle pesto, about 1 tablespoon per person
• Extra virgin olive oil, to garnish

Instructions

• Remove the tomatoes from the can, squeeze them over a bowl in the sink to remove seeds, then finely chop and reserve with their juice.
• In a dutch oven or other wide pot, sweat the sausage in the oil, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until cooked through.
• Add the garlic, carrot, onion and celery and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. Add the tomatoes and their juice, along with the stock, oregano and beans and bring to a simmer.
• Cook for 30 minutes, covered, on low heat. Add the nettles and cook for a few minutes more, or until tender. Add the pasta to the soup and heat through.
• Double check the seasoning for salt and pepper, adjust as needed, then serve with a dollop of the nettle pesto, a thread of extra virgin olive oil, and grated parmesan.

More 

Forager’s Guide to Nettles 

Forager’s Guide to Wood Nettles