Vegan Pasta Fagioli

Once again, this is a vegan dish inspired by something Shannon posted. She made this sound so delicious I couldn't resist!
I agree with her that the pasta should be cooked separately - in fact, I would serve it separately.

olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, slced
2 garlic cloves
1 T fresh chopped parsley
2 t basil, rubbed
1 bay leaf
1 (28 oz) can tomatoes, pureed
14 oz hot water mixed with instant vegetable  broth to taste
1 1/2 cups cooked white beans
cooked small shape pasta  (make sure these contain no egg)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion, carrot and celery til softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, parsley, basil and bay leaf, and cook another minute. Increase heat to high; stir in tomatoes, broth and beans and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Check for salt and pepper. Taste and adjust as desired. Remove bay leaf.

Serve this with as much pasta as each person wants.

If you want to add more protein:
Crumble about a pound of firm tofu into a non-stick frying pan. Add some instant vegetable broth, turmeric, garam masala, salt, pepper and 2 t basil, rubbed. Chop a medium onion and some garlic and add that too. Drizzle about 4 T olive oil over all. Mix well. Let rest 1/2 an hour. Then fry gently, till browned all over. Serve over soup/pasta mixture...