Pasta with Beans and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I was talking to my friend Jenny about my new favorite pasta recipe that I got from the Amateur Gourmet a couple of months ago. It’s a great recipe, and if you want to enjoy it in an unadulterated state, go here. I modified it a bit and now it’s become recipe that I make all the time. It uses few ingredients that I (now) always have on hand, it keeps well in the fridge for leftovers, and the dish takes 20 min. from start to finish. Also, it’s flavorful, filling, and the best answer to my lunchtime hunger pangs!
Here it is:

(A.G.'s picture)

(My picture, 1/2 way through cooking the dish, using beans, not puree)

Pasta with Beans and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Boil 1 lb. pasta - bowtie, macaroni, penne, whatever. (I use one whole bag – 17.5 oz. of the stuff from Costco. It’s not as cheap as Amy would like, but it’s the best quality pasta I’ve ever used! Mmmm!)
In a large dutch oven or huge skillet add 2 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. sun-dried tomatoes, including oil that the tomatoes are preserved in (it was a big deal for me, but I finally broke down and bought a large jar from Costco for $7.00)
4 garlic cloves, minced or smashed (smashed is much easier and it still gets the garlic flavor in the dish. Just take the peeled garlic clove and whack it with the broad side of a heavy knife. It’s so much faster. Then, if you don’t like chewing garlic, you can easily remove the large smashed chunks once the dish is prepared.)
¼ - 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (I always add a ton of flakes, but I can only ever taste the heat if I bite into one of the flakes in the dish…this may be because I bought my red pepper flakes 5 years ago from the dollar store.)
Cook for 1 min, or until things are looking toasty.
Add 1 c. pasta water.
Reduce liquid in skillet by ½ (takes just a couple of min., depending on how high your heat is)
Add 2 c. or 1 lb. pureed* white beans (you can use a can of beans, if you prefer, but I like the puree SO much better because the sauce that it produces at the end is YUMMY!)
Add ¼ tsp. salt and mix until combined.
Add 1 ½ c. pasta water. Bring to a boil, cook at an active simmer for 4 min.
Add al dente pasta to skillet.
Remove from heat.
Add parsley (as much as you like) and ½ c. parmesan cheese.
Before serving, add 1-2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil to dish.
Also, I always cut up a string cheese and put it in my bowl.

I make this at least twice a month. Most of the time I put it all in the fridge and eat some everyday for lunch, warmed up. It’s the best comfort food, but I think it’s also good enough to serve when friends are over for dinner.

*If you don’t make your own beans, you should start doing it. Open up your enormous tub (I know you have one in your food storage) of beans and put a few cupfuls in your biggest soup pot. Add a ton of water, put it on your stove and turn the heat to high. As soon as the beans start to boil, turn the heat down to Med. Low or Low and cook for it on the stovetop, stirring about once an hour, for a couple of hours, until the beans are mushy and soft. (Add more water as needed to ensure beans are always covered in water.) Then let it sit on your stovetop until it cools, drain the beans, and put them by cupfuls into Ziploc bags. (Snack-sized bags hold 1 cup, sandwich-sized bags hold 2 cups) Freeze the beanbags (just a little bean humor) and then just pull out what you need when you’re making dinner. When I make white beans I cook 3 lbs. at a time. After I cook them I get my blender out and puree half of the batch, ladle it out in 1 or 2 cup increments and freeze them with the rest of the beans. It’s so easy!!!