Venison Pasta e Fagioli
Ground venison, beans, and small pasta in one pot. A hunting-camp dinner built from cans and a bag of noodles.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 37
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 60 min
- water
- 1000 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground venison | 2 lb | keep frozen in the cooler and cook it the first night |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1, diced | |
| Carrots | 3, chopped | |
| Celery | 3 stalks, chopped | |
| Diced tomatoes | 2 28-oz cans | juice and all |
| Tomato sauce | 2 8-oz cans | |
| Red kidney beans | 1 16-oz can, drained | |
| White kidney beans | 1 16-oz can, drained | |
| Beef bouillon | 4 cubes plus 1 quart water | cubes replace the carton of stock |
| Ditalini or other small pasta | 8 oz | |
| Dried Italian herb blend | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic | 1 tsp, minced | jarred is fine |
| Hot sauce | 1 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Heat the oil in a large pot over the fire or a high-output burner. Brown the venison hard, breaking it apart as it goes. Venison is lean, so it will stick if you crowd it.
- Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook until the onion goes soft, about eight minutes.
- Pour in both cans of diced tomatoes with their juice, the tomato sauce, and a quart of water with the bouillon crumbled in.
- Add the herbs and hot sauce. Move the pot to the edge of the coals or turn the burner down and let it simmer 30 minutes, stirring when you walk past.
- Stir in both cans of beans and the pasta. Simmer 10 more minutes, until the pasta is soft. Add water if the pot goes tight.
- Salt and pepper at the end, once the broth has reduced to where it is staying.
This is a car camp or hunt camp dinner, not a pack meal. It is heavy, wet, and cooks for the better part of an hour, which is exactly the point when you have a fire going and nowhere to be. The original is a home soup; the changes here are ones that survive a cooler: bouillon cubes instead of a carton of stock, dried herbs instead of fresh, jarred garlic instead of a head.
The pasta goes in at the very end and only for ten minutes. Add it early and it drinks the broth, then keeps drinking it overnight until the leftovers are a solid brick. Two pounds of venison across six servings is what makes this a dinner rather than a soup; the beans carry the rest of the protein and thicken the pot as they break down.
Packing
Measure the dried herbs into one small bag at home so you are not carrying five jars. Cans and pasta ride in a bin. Venison stays frozen in the cooler and comes out first night.
Variations
- Ground beef or bulk sausage substitutes straight across if the freezer is empty.
- Skip the pasta and serve it over instant rice to make it gluten-free.
- A dried soffritto mix rehydrated in the pot replaces the fresh onion, carrot, and celery on longer trips.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/pasta-e-fagioli-with-ground-venison