Pasta e Fagioli - Italian Pasta & Bean Soup
Need a little bit of comfort? With everything that is going on right now, I feel like we all need a dish that helps warm our hearts and make our bodies happy. This dish does just that! Hearty Italian comfort food at it’s best! And even though pasta and beans are not the most elegant of foods, I find this dish to be delightfully romantic…And I think I have Dean Martin to thank for some of that (see below).
There are so many variations of this classic Italian pasta and bean soup that I absolutely will not say that this is the right way to make it. I know better! I know that the only real and true recipe is the one your grandma used to make :) I can say that this is my take on it though, and it’s pretty darn delicious!
The recipe
Pasta e Fagioli - Pasta and bean soup
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup onion diced
1 cup celery diced
2 cloves of garlic put through a press or diced
2 1/2 cups canned San Marzano tomatoes and juice - seeds removed and tomatoes chopped*
3 cups prepared cannellini beans - I used canned, drained*
1 sprig of thyme, leaves removed and diced up.
8 oz Ditalini pasta*
Pasta water or broth
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 10 min. Add garlic and saute 1 min more.
Add the tomatoes with juice, thyme and salt & pepper, and bring to a simmer. Add beans and simmer again.
Remove 1/4 to 1/3 of the soup and blend with and immersion mixer, or blender or mash with the back of a spoon. Return to the pan.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt* and then the ditalini pasta. Cook until just al dente or slightly under. Drain the pasta, reserving the pasta water.
Add the pasta to the bean mixture. Add the pasta water to thin to desired consistency and adjust salt and pepper if desired. This soup should be on the thicker side. Almost more of a stew consistency.
Serve with a sprig of thyme or a sprinkling of parmesan or pecorino cheese if desired.
Serves 6 - 8
* You can substitute the San Marzano tomatoes for other canned tomatoes. I just love these and I think that the flavor of Italian tomatoes is something that always stands out as giving the dish that true Italian taste.
* I like the ease of already prepared beans but making your own seasoned beans would definitely add some great flavor.
* If you can’t find Ditalini pasta than another small pasta orzo could be used. Even broken up spaghetti or Linguine would be fun.
* How much salt should you add to your pasta water? Here is a great article about the subject.
Buon Appetito!
Just for a little fun, here’s Dean Martin’s song - That’s Amore. One of the lines he sings says - “when the stars make you drool just like Pasta Fazool, that’s amore”. Pasta Fazool is Pasta e Fagioli in Neapolitan dialect :) Ah…amore….Italian style!
Remember that this soup and all Dean Martin music definitely goes good with wine :)
A presto, Lonielle