Pasta with White Bean Ragout

A few years ago I had a delicious pasta topped with white beans.  Unfortunately, I was never able to track down the recipe and have found myself craving that pasta ever since with no way to make it.  I searched high and low for a comparable recipe, but none quite lived up to the flavors in that original dish.

Luckily for me, my sister sent me a recipe a few weeks ago for a white bean ragout.  It turns out that she had become obsessed with a similar dish at a Greek restaurant that served white beans over pita bread.  Just like me she had been trying tons of recipes and this was the first one that came close.  Now I'm sharing the recipe with you with the modifications that I made so that you too can enjoy it!  My sister served her version over chicken, I decided to go with pasta, but I think that you could serve this ragout over anything from rice to bread (or if you added some extra broth you could even serve it as a soup) and I am sure that it would still taste just as delicious.

Pasta with White Bean Ragout

4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz tomato paste
1 15 oz can of white kidney (cannellini) beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups of vegetable stock
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
freshly grated parmesan
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb penne (or other tubular) pasta

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Dice onion and add to skillet.  Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent and begins to slightly brown, like so:

 Add garlic and tomato paste.  Stir to mix and cook for about 3 minutes:

Add beans and stir to mix well.  Cook until beans are just heated through, about 2 minutes:

Add two cups of stock.  Increase heat to medium high.  Bring to a boil and allow to simmer rapidly until mixture reduces by about half:

Add remaining cup of stock, diced tomatoes, and parmesan to taste.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until tomatoes are heated through (about 5 minutes).

Ladle mixture over pasta.  Top with grated parmesan (if desired) and enjoy!