Pasta e Fagioli is a typical dish of the Italian culinary tradition. It’s a simple dish, not very elaborate, which comes from the farming tradition like many of the best Italian dishes. We offer Walter’s Pasta e Fagioli Recipe, he is the expert in Pasta e Fagioli at home. It is the same recipe we follow for cooking lessons here in Turin.
Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States and Canada, we take advantage of it to make you our best wishes.
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Pasta e Fagioli Recipe
Ingredients for 1 Person
• Tomato pulp 30 g
• Garlic 2 cloves
• Beans Borlotti Dried 70 g
• Ditaloni Rigati (pasta) 60 g
• Salt up to q. b.
• Large salt q. b.
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Black pepper q. b.
• Chilli pepper q. b.
• Rosemary 2 Ramets
• Fresh parsley, a bouquet
• A piece of celery
• A small carrot
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Beans Preparation
➢ Soak the beans in the evening before for at least twelve hours.
➢ The next day, drain and rinse the beans.
➢ Place the beans in a pot and cover with plenty of water.
➢ Add a whole clove of garlic and rosemary.
➢ Add some coarse salt.
➢ Boil them for at least one and a half hours over low heat.
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Pasta e Fagioli Preparation
➢ Chop up the garlic, carrot, celery and half of the parsley when the beans are cooked properly. However, continue to cook the beans.
➢ If you are using a “terracotta” pot, put it on an empty fire for a few minutes.
➢ Add the extra virgin olive oil.
➢ When the oil has warmed up, add the garlic, celery, carrot and parsley, which have previously been crushed.
➢ When the vegetables are golden, add the tomato pulp.
➢ Add a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper and chilli pepper.
➢ Cook the tomato pulp for about fifteen minutes, adding the cooking water of the beans if necessary.
➢ Gradually (e. g. every 5 minutes) add the beans to the sauce so that the tomato and beans are amalgamated.
➢ Once all the beans have been added, add one ladle of bean water per person and bring to the boil.
➢ Add the Ditaloni Rigati and cook them “al dente“.
➢ Turn off the heat, add the remaining parsley and mix with the dough.
➢ Serve the hot plate.
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Pasta e Fagioli Recipe – Notes
• You can also choose sage or bay leaves for cooking the beans (it is important to choose a type of spice only, i. e. if I choose sage, I don’t put rosemary).
• Other powdered spices such as turmeric, ginger or other spices can also be used to prepare the basic sauce.
• The dosages indicated are per person and are indicative. Variations can be made and gradually adapted to one’s tastes, e. g. by slightly increasing the amount of tomato pulp and leaving the other ingredients unchanged. For example, dough could be increased and beans reduced.
• Usually in making pasta and beans you use a little bit of lardo or bacon, but in this case we don’t use it.
• It is preferable using terracotta pots.
• Other types of beans may also be used.
• This same recipe can also be made with fresh beans or, if you are running, canned beans.
• Wine we recommend Grignolino.