Pasta and Bean Soup - Pasta e Fagioli
I don't know why I never posted my mother-in-law's delicious recipe for pasta and bean soup – pasta e fagioli – but there you have it: it slipped through the cracks somehow.
It was just when I made it the other day that I realized I had never posted a recipe, but now I've rectified that.
My mother-in-law was an amazing home cook and could’ve been a chef if times had been different. She didn’t have an extensive repertoire of recipes but what she made was over the moon perfect. Always.
I should have transcribed more of her recipes or done some videos; but who was doing that back decades ago? So instead I just enjoyed hanging out with her and watching. Her hands were scraggly and arthritic but wow could she make fabulous pasta! Her deft little hands were magic!
One of my nephews who lives in San Francisco and is a chef spent a lot of time with Lidia and he attributes his culinary knowledge to her…sweet and true.
I did manage to write down the pasta and bean soup recipe – I’m not sure why I did, but I’m happy to have it! Please enjoy Lidia’s wonderful pasta and bean soup recipe!
Serves 8
Ingredients
Borlotti or Cannellini (white) beans, dried, 1 kilogram (35 ounces)
Pasta, short tubular pasta (about ½ inch in length), 300 grams (10.6 ounces)
Olive oil, ⅓ cup
Celery stalk, finely chopped, ¼ cup
Green onion (white part only), finely chopped, ¼ cup
Medium onion, finely chopped, ½ cup
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 to 3 small fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
Peperoncino, 1 small, crumbled
Salt, 2 teaspoons
Cooking Instructions
Soak beans overnight in cold water.
Place tomatoes in boiling water for 20 to 30 seconds until skin starts to loosen.
Remove with slotted spoon and run under cold water.
Slip off the tomato peels.
Cook beans in tepid water for 5 minutes.
Discard cooking water.
Add fresh tepid water and simmer 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Alternatively, cook the beans in a pressure cooker or instant pot for 10 to 15 minutes.
Prepare soffritto: gently simmer celery, onion, carrot, and garlic in olive oil until tender and onion is translucent.
When tender, add tomato and peperoncino and cook several minutes.
Add three ladlesful of beans to soffritto plus some cooking liquid (about half a cup).
Simmer gently for about 4 minutes.
Add 2 teaspoons salt, 2 to 3 more ladlesful of beans, and 2 to 3 ladlesful of bean cooking water.
Simmer 4 more minutes.
Set aside a ladleful of beans and the cooking liquid.
Add pasta to the bean mixture and cook until al dente.
Add salt to taste.
Use an immersion blender to purée a ladleful of beans that you had set aside and stir into soup.
Consistency should be thick and creamy.
If you'd like a thicker soup then purée another ladleful of the pasta and beans and stir it back into the mixture.
Equipment
- pressure cooker
- instant pot
Ingredients
- Borlotti or Cannellini white beans, dried, 1 kilogram (35 ounces)
- Pasta short tubular pasta (about ½ inch in length), 300 grams (10.6 ounces)
- Olive oil ⅓ cup
- Celery stalk finely chopped, ¼ cup
- Green onion white part only, finely chopped, ¼ cup
- Medium onion finely chopped, ½ cup
- 1 small carrot finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 to 3 small fresh tomatoes peeled, seeded, and chopped
- Peperoncino 1 small, crumbled
- Salt 2 teaspoons
Instructions
- Soak beans overnight in cold water.
- Place tomatoes in boiling water for 20 to 30 seconds until skin starts to loosen.
- Remove with slotted spoon and run under cold water.
- Then remove tomato peel.
- Cook beans in tepid water for 5 minutes.
- Discard cooking water.
- Add fresh tepid water and simmer 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Prepare soffritto: gently simmer celery, onion, carrot, and garlic in olive oil until tender and onion is translucent.
- When tender, add tomato and peperoncino and cook several minutes.
- Add three ladles of beans to soffritto with some cooking liquid.
- Simmer gently for about 4 minutes.
- Add 2 teaspoons salt, 2 to 3 more ladles of beans, and 2 to 3 ladles of bean cooking water.
- Simmer 4 more minutes.
- Set aside a ladleful of beans and small amount of liquid.
- Add pasta to bean mixture and cook until al dente.
- Add salt to taste.
- Purée ladleful of beans set aside and stir into soup.
- Consistency should be thick and creamy.
Nutrition
I'm crazy about beans and love soup! Here's a great recipe that pulls them both together: White Bean, Tomato & Rosemary Soup.
You might also enjoy my Potato Leek Soup.
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