String Beans & Pennoni

There was about a month that my mom went through a string bean phase. She made them every possible way that she could with tomatoes. Sometimes she put extra onions and garlic, other times lots of dill or parsley. She left them whole, other times she trimmed them short. Sometimes fresh tomatoes were used instead of jarred marinara sauce. I would barely finished the first batch and there was already a call that the next batch was ready. And she always said they were better than the last. lol. I ate alot of string beans, lol. And would remix the recipe sometimes, including a not so tasty string bean salad but mixing it with pasta was the best. And I found myself craving it the other day, and I think once you try it, you may too!

• 1 pound string beans, trimmed to the size of the pennoni, cut at an angle
• 1/2 pound pennoni, if you can't find pennoni, ziti is a great substitute
• 1/2 a small onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, smashed and minced
• 1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups good jarred marinara sauce
• 1 cup of part-skim ricotta cheese *optional
• chopped fresh dill, parsley or basil to garnish, whatever you are in the mood for. *optional

Bring enough water to a boil for the pasta and string beans. This is great to make if you are busy and want a quick home cooked meal. Once your water comes to a boil, add your pasta, string beans, a little olive oil and salt. What's great is they cook at the same time. In a separate pan, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil on low heat. Once they are transparent, add the mariana sauce and bring to a boil and simmer for ten minutes. Once your pasta is al dente, drain and toss with your marinara sauce. Divide among your plates. This makes about 4 generous servings. Top with about 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese and some fresh chopped herb. I used parsley because I found a beautiful bunch at the farmers' market that I couldn't resist. ;) Enjoy!