Pasta Fagioli Recipe
This pasta fagioli recipe brings the flavors of Italy to your heart and your belly with every bit and is your passport to Italy, old world style. My name is Kira Volpi and this is my version of this old world tradition.
Some slang terms that probably came from the Southern Italian dialect are pasta fazool, pastafazu and pasta vazu. Either way you say it to me it sounds like delicious pasta soup.
Most Italian food recipes required using what they had available to them and made something fresh and delicious that went a long way so they could feed their large families. It’s really a peasants soup and for my Father and his 13 brothers and sisters it was dinner.
Recipes for pasta fagioli soup vary, like most Italian pasta recipes, from region to region and here in the Western part of the world it has become a kaleidoscope of recipes adding stuff like ground hamburger or pork, from spicy to mild to thick and some that are mostly broth. I prefer my pasta fagioli recipe to have a thick bean flavor much like a stew. Thick and hearty.
Pasta Fagioli Ingredients:
- 1 15oz can cannelli beans (or to be honest I prefer northern beans)
- homemade prosciutto bone stock (I fill the empty bean can twice and add to the soup.)
- traditionally served with ditalini but I used 1/2 pound of gemelli or rotini pasta
- 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
- 1/2 chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic sliced thin
- 1/4 pound of pancetta cut in small slices
- olive oil
- small handful of chopped Italian parsley
- crushed red pepper to taste (if you like it warm)
- salt and pepper to taste
- parmigiano to grate on top of the soup
- olive oil for the table to drizzle in the soup
Pasta Fagioli Preparation:
HINT: Fagioli means beans in Italian and it is the most important ingredient in this Italian soup recipe. So make sure to use a good quality bean. It should be tender, not gritty and the broth of the beans should be thick. That is going to add flavor to your broth.Boil water and a healthy pinch of salt and cook the Gemelli or Rotini pasta. Cook the pasta al dente, drain and toss in a little olive oil until you're ready to serve the soup.
In a sauce pan sauté the pancetta on a low-medium heat until almost crispy but still tender. Now is a good time to add the onions and garlic to the pan and to sauté the onions and garlic until translucent.
Take the can of cannelli beans and empty them into a large pot along with the juice in the can. Add your stock broth, the sautéed onions, a splash of olive oil and bring to a boil.
I like to add the spinach directly to the pot but add it last so it keeps that bright green color. If you like a little heat to your pasta fagioli recipe pinch some crushed red pepper and then a pinch of parsley. Serve it hot with parmigiano on the side.
Simple quick and easy pasta soup recipe that will feed the whole family. For family of 14 or larger Please triple the ingredients.
Vivere, Amare, Ridere e Mangiare Bene
Live, Love, Laugh and Eat Well!
Kira Volpi
Do you have a pasta recipe to share? Just like this pasta fagioli recipe I will post it right here on this site for a whole page dedicated to your Italian pasta recipe.
ITALIAN SOUP RECIPES
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