Stephanie's Pasta Fazool

This is my little Italian great-nana's recipe. In standard Italian, it is called pasta e fagioli, which means "pasta and beans". Fasul is the Neopolitan Italian pronunciation. In America, it became "fazool". It is a peasant dish and makes a filling hot lunch or dinner for your 3 month pantry supply.

2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. fresh chopped onion or 1 t. dry chopped onion
1 t. minced garlic or 1/2 t. dry minced onion
Crushed hot seed pepper, to taste
15oz can pork 'n beans
8oz can tomato sauce
2 cups dry macaroni noodles
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste

In saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and add onion, garlic and hot seed pepper. Fry until golden. Add tomato sauce and pork 'n beans. Heat until hot, adding salt, pepper and Parmesan to taste.

Boil macaroni according to box directions until al dente. Drain.

Combine macaroni with bean sauce and serve immediately.

Serves 4-6

Beans & Tortillas (Repost)

Here is Tonya with her video on how to make Beans, Tortillas & Refried Beans.

Mexican Pinto Beans
A tasty way to use the dry beans in your food storage!

1 lb (2 cups) of dry pinto beans
1 can of roast beef, not drained
1 small can of tomato sauce
½ can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
¼ of a bell pepper, diced
2 TBSP dehydrated onions
1 tsp "Better Than Bullion" paste in beef flavor (beef bullion cube also works)
1 tsp ground cumin, or to taste
Mexican oregano, to taste
garlic salt, to taste

Garnish
Chopped cilantro
Diced green onion
Diced white or yellow onion
Diced tomatoes
Cotija cheese

Rinse and sort beans, discard any foreign objects or suspicious beans. Place beans in a large bowl and cover with 3-4 inches in water, soak over night (6-8 hours). Pour out soaking water and rinse beans again. Place beans in a large pot (with a lid) and cover with 2 inches of water; bring to a boil not covered, stirring occasionally. Cover with lid askew to vent, turn down heat, and let beans simmer for 1 ½ hours, occasionally stirring.

Add the rest of the ingredients and continue to simmer and stir until beans are very tender and water has boiled off to the desired consistency, about 1-2 hours. As a note, water can be added or scooped out to reach desired consistency. Spoon beans into bowls, top with garnish and sprinkle with cotija cheese.

Refried Beans

1-2T chorizo, to taste
1-2 cups of beans from Mexican pinto beans
Juice from Mexican pinto beans
milk

Brown the chorizo in a sauce pan over medium heat. With a slotted spoon scoop out some of the beans, about 1-2 cups depending on how much you want to make. Turn heat down to med-low. Use a potato masher to mash beans and incorporate chorizo. Stir in juice from beans and milk in small amounts till beans become smooth and are just beginning to simmer. You can make beans as thick or smooth as you like.

Homemade Tortillas

Put the flour in your food storage to good use by rolling out your own tortillas. Some of the flour in this recipe can be substituted with wheat flour.

2 cups white flour*
1t salt
¾ t baking powder
1/3 cup shortening
¾ cups warm water

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles course crumbs. Slowly stir in water and fluff with fork until dough forms. Turn out onto floured surface. Kneed dough until it is smooth (about 10 times). Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Pinch off a small ball of dough and roll out on floured surface. Tortillas should be thin and elastic about 10 inches in diameter. Cook on stove top, in un-greased iron skillet, nonstick pan, or electric grilled. Cook on one side until just barely brown, flip once and brown other side. Keep a tooth pick near by to poke out any large air bubbles.

* or 1 1/3 cups white flour and 2/3 cups whole wheat flour

Lets Eat!