Pasta and Beans soup (pasta e fagoli)
User Reviews
5
-
Prep Time
15 mins
-
Cook Time
45 mins
-
Total Time
1 hr
-
Servings
4
-
Calories
580 kcal
-
Course
Main Course, Soup
-
Cuisine
Italian
Pasta and Beans soup (pasta e fagoli)
Description
The recipe starts by preparing a flavorful broth by dissolving stock cubes in boiling water. Pancetta or guanciale is diced and browned with a peeled garlic clove in olive oil. Finely chopped onion, carrot, and celery stalks are added and softened. Crushed tomatoes are stirred in along with salt, pepper, and rosemary and simmered. Pre-cooked or canned borlotti beans are added last with remaining stock, and the soup simmers further to marry flavors. Small ditaloni pasta is cooked separately and added as the final step. For a smooth texture contrast, some soup is pureed and reincorporated before serving. Grated Parmesan is offered as a garnish.
The flavors meld traditional Italian country notes: smoky pancetta, acidic tomatoes, fresh herbs, and creamy beans. The pasta contributes a chewy texture that balances the soft vegetables. The soup is hearty yet light enough to serve as a starter or main course. Rosemary adds a pine-like fragrance enhancing the rustic appeal.
This soup works well as a comforting winter meal or a nourishing lunch. It is versatile enough to adjust with vegetable stock and omit meat for a vegetarian version. Serving with Parmesan allows diners to add savory richness as desired.
Beans should be soaked and cooked if dried, or canned beans can be drained and rinsed. Leftover soup reheats well and thickens as it sits, so adding extra broth or water when warming can restore desired consistency.
Ingredients
- 250 g crushed tomatoes 9oz) polpa/ passata
- 2 celery medium sized finely chopped, stalks
- 80 g pancetta (3oz) or guanciale
- 400 g borlotti beans 14oz) if using dried beans soak overnight and then cook in salted water for about 1 hour, dried or canned
- 1 garlic peeled, clove
- 1 carrot finely chopped, medium sized
- 0.5 lts beef stock (2 cups) or vegetable stock
- 1 onion peeled and finely chopped, small
- extra virgin olive oil
- black pepper to taste
- salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon rosemary fresh or dried
- 300 g ditaloni pasta (10.5oz)
- 50 g parmigiano reggiano (2oz) grated for serving if required
Instructions
- Dissolve 2 stock cubes in half a liter of boiling water.
- Chop the onion, celery and carrot very finely (in a food mixer is good). Cut the pancetta or guanciale into thin pieces. Peel the garlic. If using canned beans, drain them.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic clove peeled but not cut and cook it until it browns, then remove it. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook until the fat starts to melt.
- Add the finely chopped vegetables to the pan and cook until they start to soften. Then, add a ladleful of the stock and cook the vegetables another minute or two.
- Add the crushed tomatoes (passata) and salt and pepper as desired.
- Add another ladleful of stock and cook for a couple more minutes.
- Add the precooked/canned beans and mix the ingredients well, whilst adding the last of the stock. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Put the water on to boil for the pasta.
- Whilst waiting for the water to boil, remove 3 ladlefuls from the soup and liquidize it in a food processor until it's smooth and creamy. Then add this mixture back into the soup and stir well.
- When the pasta is cooked al dente (according to the instructions on the packet), drain and add it to the soup.
- Season with the finely chopped rosemary and pour into bowls. Add a little olive oil to the soup just before serving ( don't mix it in) and grated cheese if required
Notes
- For a vegetarian version, omit pancetta and use vegetable stock instead of beef stock.
- Dried beans must be soaked overnight and cooked until tender before use; canned beans can be substituted after draining and rinsing.
- Small pasta shapes like ditaloni are traditional, but broken spaghetti or other short pasta can be used.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 4Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 580 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 580kcal | 29% |
| Carbohydrates | 89g | 30% |
| Protein | 27g | 54% |
| Fat | 13g | 20% |
| Saturated Fat | 5g | 25% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 5g | 25% |
| Trans Fat | 0.03g | 2% |
| Cholesterol | 22mg | 7% |
| Sodium | 648mg | 27% |
| Potassium | 889mg | 19% |
| Fiber | 14g | 56% |
| Sugar | 6g | 12% |
| Vitamin A | 2934IU | 59% |
| Vitamin C | 8mg | 9% |
| Calcium | 237mg | 24% |
| Iron | 4mg | 22% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
You'll Also Love
