• Soak the beans overnight.

The Next Day:

• Peel and dice the carrot, potato and onion. Chop the celery.
• Drain the beans and rinse them.
• Add all the ingredients, except the salt,  to a large pot. Make sure the beans are well-covered with water/stock.  Adding too much is better than not enough.  You can always boil it off later.
• Bring the mixture to a simmer and let it cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  If the water gets too low, add a little more.
• Ten minutes before the end of the cooking, add the salt.
• At this point, you can partially blend the soup to make a more creamy consistency, or leave it as it is.
• I prefer to cook the pasta separately in boiling water, then add the pasta to the soup afterwards.  To do this, fill a second pot with water, bring the water to the boil, then cook the pasta as per the instructions on the packet.

To Serve:

• Add the cooked pasta to the soup and ladle into bowls.  You can add a dash of good olive oil to the top of the soup and decorate it with chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese.

Notes:

• If the soup is too thick, just add more water and stir.
• You can choose any kind of short pasta you like.  A type with a hole in it is a good option as it picks up the soup. The soup can be frozen before the pasta is added.
• If you used canned beans, add less water at the beginning and cook the soup for 20 minutes, instead of for an hour.