One of the things that frustrates me in Australia is when people claim that because of their financial circumstances they are forced to feed their families fast food. That vegetables and fruit are too expensive. I know that I can cook a very cheap meal that is healthy and uses vegetables and in fact I know that the Italians, Greeks, and Asian countries have been eating like this for years.

If you go to the markets or shops and look around there are always bargains to be found. Yes, it does take a bit more time but it’s still possible to make a great meal with only a little money and a little time.

One such recipe is Borlotti with pasta. I was introduced to this meal through my husband’s relatives and it’s one of his favorite meals. The borlotti can be bought fresh, which is my preference or canned or dried. You could even grow your own as I have on occasions as they are pretty easy to grow.

You could replace the borlotti with lentils or another bean if it is too difficult for you to find these. Don’t you just love the colour of the beans? Unfortunately they loose all that colour once they are cooked.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup of shelled fresh borlotti beans, or at least one can, drained or I cup of dried borlotti soaked overnight.

1 onion diced

2 cloves of garlic diced

2 carrots cut into small pieces

3 large stalks of celery diced

500 ml of vegetable stock

1/2 cup of passata or tomato pureé

A handful or two of spaghetti, broken into small pieces

chopped Italian parsley

olive oil

salt and pepper

Method

In a large heated saucepan pour around four tablespoons of olive oil.

Add the stock and tomato passata and bring to simmer. Let it simmer for at least half an hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Before serving break the spaghetti and add to the borlotti and stock. When the pasta is soft sprinkle the parsley on top and serve with a crusty loaf of bread.