New Year's Good Luck "Pasta Fazool" (Pasta E Fagioli) - Food Wishes ─ Food Wishes

Scientists will tell you that there's no way eating pork, beans, and/or greens at the beginning of a new year can bring you good luck and great fortune; but our lab-coated, left-brained friends are missing one very important fact: People who think they're lucky, are lucky.

Due to the holiday break, the fully formatted, printable, written recipe for this will not go live on Allrecipes.com for another day or two. In the meantime, I've posted a draft for the recipe ingredients and procedure below. Enjoy!

To become an official "Food Wisher" and read Chef John's in-depth article about how to make New Year's Good Luck "Pasta Fazool," follow this link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRIZ...

You can also find more of Chef John's content on Allrecipes: http://allrecipes.com/recipes/16791/e...

New Year's Good Luck "Pasta Fazool"

Ingredients for 6 portions:

12 ounces bacon, sliced into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 large head Swiss chard, roughly chopped (about 4 packed cups)
1 can (15.5 ounce) cannellini beans, drained
1 1/4 cup orecchiette pasta, or other shape macaroni

Optional garnish for the top:
extra virgin olive oil
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
red pepper flakes

- Add the sliced bacon to a cold soup pot, and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the fat has rendered out, and the bacon begins to crisp up. Drain off most of the excess fat if desired, and add the onions, celery, and salt.

- Cook the mixture, stirring, for about five minutes, or until the onions soften and turn translucent. Stir in the black pepper, cayenne, dried thyme, dried oregano, and tomato paste. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about two minutes, or until the tomato paste starts to caramelize onto the bottom of the pan.

- Add the minced garlic, and cook stirring for two more minutes. Stir in the chicken broth and water, and raise the heat to high. Once the mixture is simmering, reduce heat to medium. Stir in the Swiss chard, and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the greens become tender.

- Stir in the drained beans, and raise the heat to high. Once the mixture is boiling, stir in the pasta, and reduce the heat to medium high. Cook for about 12-15 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Please note: It's always a good idea to check the liquid for salt before adding the pasta, and adjust if needed.

- Once the pasta is tender, check the seasoning one last time, before serving immediately in large bowls. If desired, garnish the top with a drizzle of olive oil, some freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Best served with some crusty, toasted bread.