Pasta e Fagioli Recipe
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Pasta e fagioli is a straightforward and warming soup that’s definitive of Italian peasant cuisine. Marco Canora passed on this version, which is one of our favorite dishes during the cold winter months.
Game plan: Traditionally, pancetta is included in pasta e fagioli to provide more intense flavor. If you want to use it, add 3 ounces of diced pancetta with the garlic. If you prefer some heat, add a few dried red peppers when you put in the herbs.
For a slacker solution, buy high-quality canned white beans instead of cooking the beans yourself.
- 1 cup dried tubettini pasta (you can substitute ditalini, conchigliette, or small maccheroni)
- 2 cups cooked small white beans such as cannellini
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 10 small fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
- Leaves from 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups reserved bean-cooking liquid
- 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- Fill a medium saucepan with heavily salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and boil until partially cooked, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Combine 1/2 cup of the cooked beans and the water in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When oil shimmers, add onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic, sage, and rosemary and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in tomato paste and cook until it caramelizes and melts in with the other ingredients, about 2 minutes.
- Thin tomato-paste mixture with bean-cooking liquid, add remaining 1 1/2 cups beans, and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add pasta and bean purée to soup, and simmer until pasta is al dente, about 5 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper if necessary, sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano and a drizzle of olive oil, and serve.
Beverage pairing: A medium-bodied Chianti would make a nice partner to this hearty bean soup. Try something juicy, smooth, and uncomplicated, like the 2003 Castello di Monastero Chianti Superiore.
Thinned out some pesto with olive oil as a topping. Simple, fast and yummy!
warm and lovely for a blustery san diego day. it needed a little something at the end so i grated about a 1/2-3/4 tsp. of lemon zest into the stew. added just the kick i was hoping for :)
Wow! Wow! Wow! This is an extraordinary dish. Many layers of flavor each with a distinct and delicious taste. Thank you. Please post more recipes!
(I made it with 2 cans of cannellini beans and used a some of the liquid from the cans and some of the cooked pasta water for the liquid)
Good recipe and I like cramelaziing the tomato paste. My additions included: added the pancetta, (have to have it), threw in some tomato sauce to the soup mix, and then gave it wack with some red wine to fortify. Simply wonderful.
My memory of pasta e fagioli is a Friday "meatless" dish. For my vegan daughter, this is a must. Skip lard and pancetta, pull more stock flavor with onion celery and carrot. The sage in this sounds nice, I will give it a try this week.
You forgot the lard! Every Southern Italian that I know who makes this dish (and there are fewer and fewer, unfortunately) uses rendered pork fat in the base.... While I am sure that I would miss the lard flavor immediately, this recipe certainly sounds as though it would taste good as a "healthier" version.
thanks aidam
Louigi: When you make the Basic Cooked Beans recipe, you should hold onto 4 cups of the liquid that you cooked the beans in. If you use canned beans or forgot to hang onto the reserved liquid, you can substitute water or a combination of water and low-sodium broth and water though it will result in a different flavor.
im confused on the 4 cups of reserved bean cooking liquid.
how do I get that? can someone help?
I was worried it would turn out a bit bland for my taste, so I added a few more cloves of garlic, a 1/4 of a teaspon of harissa or chilli paste in with the tomato, celery (because it was taking up room in my fridge), and used broth instead of water. It's a nice basic recipe and really warmed up my guests.
Thanks for pointing that out, bobzaguy! I have clarified the issues you pointed out and hope you try out the recipe.
Some confusion for me in the instructions pertaining to the heat settings. Medium-high turned down to medium, then add tomato paste and turn up to medium. Must mean medium-high.
Also, "caramelizing" the 3T of tomato paste may not be the best cooking term to use. A more exact time frame would possibly be more instructive to "amateur" cooks. That fine line between caramelized and burned tomato paste might be crossed too quickly if not watched closely.