Pasta e fagioli (Italian: [ˈpasta e faˈdʒɔːli]; lit. ’pasta and beans’) is an Italian pasta soup of which there are several regional variants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta_e_fagioli
Pasta e fagioli probably doesn’t need much of an introduction. I think it’s one of the more famous Italian soups, which you’ll even find in some Italian chain restaurants in America. (You know the one I’m talking about). Or maybe you’ve heard the cheesy Dean Martin song That’s Amore, with the line “when the stars make you drool just like pasta fazool, that’s amore”? That’s playing on the Neapolitan pronunciation of fagioli.
If you’re not familiar with it, it literally means “pasta and beans”, and it’s one of those dishes that probably has as many variations as there are homes in Italy. It can be thick or thin, heavy on the tomato or little more than pasta and beans; it all depends on how you like it.
Traditionally, of course, you would start with dry beans and simmer them with basic aromatics until they’re soft, creating a luscious, silky bean broth that becomes the base of the soup.
In modern times, canned beans are a frequent shortcut to turn this into an easy weeknight meal for busy people. However, with that route, you don’t get the same flavorful broth to build your soup off of, so those recipes tend to be heavily tomato-based to add flavor. Not surprisingly, most of the recipes I looked at were for the latter method, so my recipe is based around canned beans and tomatoes. Either way, it’s delicious.
Way back in 2019, I shared a recipe for fagiolata, another Italian bean dish with a long list of optional ingredients due to everyone and their mother having their own recipe. One of those optional ingredients was pasta, and I commented that “I suppose that would make it pasta fagioli.” Having now researched pasta e fagioli, I think the primary difference is that the faiolata recipes included some sort of meat, while the pasta e fagioli recipes I saw were generally vegetarian-leaning (other than the use of chicken stock).
While most recipes listed several options for what type of pasta to use, every one of them included ditalini on that list, so that’s the one I list in my recipe. That said, I couldn’t find ditalini at my usual grocery store, and didn’t feel like running all over town looking for it on a day when Duluth was experiencing some of the worst air quality in the world due to wildfire smoke, so I chose to just use the elbow macaroni I already had in the pantry. The ideal pasta for this dish is some sort of short, tubular shape- ditalini, elbow macaroni, tubetini… think something roughly the same size as your beans.
While you can certainly choose to cook the pasta in the soup if you prefer, and many recipes do, my recommendation is to cook it separately and add it to only the portion of the soup you plan to serve in one sitting, as it will continue to soak up the liquid and become super soft and soggy as it sits.
I used canned canellini beans in this recipe, which are probably the most authentically Italian bean you’ll easily find in cans in America. If I were cooking dry beans, I would likely use something like barlotti beans. But really, use whatever type of beans you like or have available. (Ok, maybe not black beans if you care about how it looks… )
Pasta e Fagioli
Serves: 6
Prep: 0:15
Cook: 0:55
Total: 1:10
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2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
1 ½ stalks celery, diced
⅓ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Fresh ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 ½ Tablespoons tomato paste
3 ½ cups chicken broth
OR
3 ½ cups vegetable broth
OR
3 ½ cups water
1 28oz. can tomato sauce
1 15oz. can diced tomatoes
1 piece parmesan rind
1 ½ cups ditalini pasta
2 15oz. cans cannellini beans, drained
2 ½ Tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
35 g freshly grated parmesan
Optional:
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 lb. ground beef
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¾ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
1 15 oz. can dark red kidney beans, drained
AND
1 15 oz can great northern beans, drained, in place of cannellini
Romano cheese, in place of parmesan to garnish
1 small fennel bulb, diced, in place of celery
2 large kale leaves, chopped
3 ½ cups cooked cranberry beans, in place of cannellini
4 oz pancetta, finely diced
1 can whole peeled tomatoes, in place of diced
450 g dry beans of choice, in place of canned (soak overnight, and simmer until soft before adding tomato products).
190 g tomato puree, in place of sauce
2 sprigs sage
2-3 bay leaves
1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice, added just before serving.
Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add carrots, onions, and celery, and season with ⅓ teaspoon of salt and black pepper to taste; sauté over medium heat until quite soft, 10-15 minutes.
Add the garlic, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and dry basil, and cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until it dries and darkens a little.
Add the broth or water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and parmesan rind, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta for about a minute less than the package directions for al dente. Drain well and toss with a teaspoon of olive oil to prevent it from sticking. Set aside.
Once the soup has simmered for 20 minutes or so, add the beans and fresh parsley. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until heated through.
If you plan to serve all the soup in one sitting, go ahead and add the pasta to the pot. Otherwise, add the pasta to individual bowls of hot soup.
Garnish with a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil and some freshly grated Parmesan.
Lorin cooks Legumes 