# La pasta e fagioli (pasta and bean 'soup'



## di reston (Nov 16, 2015)

This is a dish beloved of most Italians. I remember when I was a student at Rome Università degli Studi, we would often go out, maybe after the cinema, or a party, for a dish of this. It's a very good winter dish.

500gr soaked borlotti beans, or 2 cans ready to eat borlotti. Borlotti, in Italy, are those speckled beans, and are readily available in supermarkets here. Lots of people grow their own as well.


100gr bacon lardons
150gr sofritto (finely chopped equal quantities of onion, carrot and celery)
fresh chopped garlic to taste
3 - 4 sage leaves
250 gr freshly made tomato pulp, or the following basic tomato sauce:

(this is great when youre in a hurry)
2 tins plum tomatoes, 4 - 5 cloves garlic chopped, olive oil, oregano, salt and 1 tsp sugar. Bring to a boil and, strring all the time, until the sauce is reduced by one fifth.

Chicken stock 1 litre, and 1/2 litre if necessary

150g small pasta - the Romans traditionally use broken up spaghetti, ut something like ditalini would be fine.

Sweat the bacon lardons, soffritto  sage and garlic in the olive oil, then add the cooked borlotti beans followed by the tomato sauce and stock. Cook down a little, squashing some of the beans, and then add the pasta.
When the pasta is cooked, the dish is ready. If you want a thinner soup, add more water to taste, bearing in mind that this should be quite a thick soup anyway.

When you're ready to dish up, sprinkle parmesan over the soup and serve.

Buon appetito

Dianne

Enough is never as good as a feast    Oscar Wilde


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## creative (Nov 16, 2015)

Great!  Thanks for this!  My Italian mother used to make it for us but
used cannellini beans.


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## Janet H (Nov 16, 2015)

This is about my favorite cold weather soup.  I've always made the veggie version and it includes a little fresh fennel.  Here's my take on this:

3 T olive oil
1 C chopped onion
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1/2 C thinly sliced fennel (bulb)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground fennel (if no fresh fennel in veg mix)
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp sage
2 C vegetable stock
2 C tomato or V-8 juice
2 C water
5-6 small peeled tomatoes, broken to pieces (about 1 cup)
1/2 pound ditalini pasta
2 15-ounce cans cannellini or borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 C fresh chopped parsley
Salt and black pepper to taste


Heat olive oil in a large pot and saute veggies until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and seasoning and saute another minute.
Add stock/s, water and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and keep at a low boil.

When the pasta is about half way cooked, add the beans and cook another 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley. Add salt and black pepper to taste.  Serve with shredded parm or asiago.


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## di reston (Nov 18, 2015)

*La minestra di pasta e fagioli*

Your recipe sounds great, and I'm always looking for healthy hearty soups to take us through the winter. I've already put your recipe in my soup file! Many thanks.

di reston

Enough is never as good as a feast  Oscar Wilde


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## callmaker60 (Nov 22, 2015)

Yum, my favorite soup.


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## Cheryl J (Nov 22, 2015)

Thank you for sharing your recipes, Di and Janet.  They both sound delicious!


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