Pasta e Fagioli is one of my all time comfort foods. When I worked in downtown New York City many years ago, we would order food from this little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant and their pasta e fagioli was out of this world. So when I had the opportunity to meet home cook and food writer Eleonora “Lola” Baldwin from Rome, Italy online, I just had to ask her for her version of this wonderful comfort food.

I just interviewed Lola and if you have any interest in Italian cuisine, their culture and lifestyle, I encourage you to read the interview in its entirety.  She is a wonderful writer and has generations of handed down knowledge of Italian cooking. Her own food blog, Aglio, Olio & Peperoncino is filled with stories and recipes dating back to her childhood growing up in Italy to present day. It’s a brilliant read.

Lola was kind enough to send me her recipe for Pasta e Fagioli along with some facts about the dish that I think you will find fascinating. I’m hoping Lola will spend more time on The Reluctant Gourmet web site sharing more stories and recipes from life living in Italy.

Note: After Lola sent me her recipe, I had some questions that she answered and you can read them at the end of the recipe.

Lola’s Pasta e Fagioli

Remember Dean Martin swooning his “pasta fazool?” This soup is what he meant when he swore it was Amore. Pasta e fagioli - meaning “pasta and beans,” is the traditional meatless bean soup that is now a popular worldwide gourmet item. Like many other Italian favorite recipes, pasta e fagioli was a peasant food dish, due to cheaply available, stomach-filling beans and pasta.

Pasta e fagioli is made using borlotti beans (fat, pulpy medium-sized beans, light beige in color, speckled with dark brown flecks, the nearest equivalent is cranberry or pinto beans) and different types of small thimble-shaped pasta such as tubetti, ditalini or cannolicchi.

The consistency of the dish can vary, some renditions fall clearly in the thick soup category, usually because part of the beans is mashed during preparation to obtain a more creamy texture.

This rather thick life-saver soup is just what you want to engulf when the Fall rain’s mercilessly striking the window panes; and exactly what you need to cook in order to feel safe and warm, happy and engaged inside.

Casca a fagiolo, is the Italian saying that literally describes how something happens just at the right moment. This soup for example.

• 2 1/2 cups (500 gr ) dried cranberry beans, or about 3 cups fresh
• 1 garlic clove, whole
• 1 tablespoon rosemary needles, minced (1/2 teaspoon dried)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 oz (60 gr) pancetta or prosciutto
• 1 - 1/4 cups (250 gr) good quality dried tubetti pasta
• Salt & pepper to taste

If you’re using dried beans, sort them to remove stones or damaged beans and loose skins, soak them overnight and change the water at least once.

Cook the beans in 2 liters (8 cups) of water, with the pancetta, garlic, rosemary and salt to taste until done—they should be quite soft.

Remove half the beans from the pot with a slotted spoon and puree them through a food mill and toss them all back into the pot.  Simmer the soup until it takes on a creamed velvety texture, with the whole beans bubbling along.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook the pasta in the soup until it is al dente.

Adjust the seasoning, let the soup rest covered for a few minutes, then ladle the ambrosia into individual bowls, and serve drizzled with a thread of raw olive oil, paired with a nice red wine like a Chianti Classico.

…Mmmm, this made me want to make some now!

Ciao,
Lola

Questions and Answers with Lola

I asked Lola if she only cooked with dried or fresh beans or if she ever used canned beans and she said,

Sure! I’m no fundamentalist when it comes to cooking beans. I use canned beans freely (provided they be well rinsed of their gelatinous storing gunk), but the healthiest, tastiest and most common beans used in Italian cuisine—and for the best pasta e fagioli—are the dried ones.

Yes, cooking dried beans takes more time than opening a can, but you’ll be richly rewarded with superior flavor and texture. They will keep almost indefinitely, and a well-stocked Italian pantry always has a selection of two or more kinds of dried beans. For quick pasta e fagioli, you can use two 14-oz cans of beans.

What about the pasta? Is it always tubetti? Are there substitutes if tubetti isn’t available?

I’ve made it with broken noodles, fettuccine, mismatched shapes of equal-sized pasta, maltagliati, etc. The key requisite is that the pasta must be small enough to fit in a spoonful along with the beans.

Many American home cooks don’t own a food mill but do have food processors and blenders. Can they be used and if so, what are the advantages and disadvantages of using electric appliances?

Electric metal blades whirl so fast that they generate heat, which alters flavors. Plus they cut! That’s why pesto is best made with mortar and pestle. The flavor remains intact. If you really must make pesto with a food processor, remember: short bursts!

I have one too of course, and I use it a lot. But to puree, separating skins from pulp and ricing without rearranging molecular structure… you need a hand powered food mill. It’s an inescapable must in an Italian kitchen!

We all have heard the term al dente and most of us know what it means but I asked Lola to give us her definition of “al dente” and she responded –

This is a matter of immense importance, thank you! Please remove all images of spaghetti flung on kitchen walls to check doneness from your mind. Please.

Pasta should, I correct myself, MUST be cooked al dente. That translates ‘to the tooth’, meaning it should oppose some kind of debate to our chewing apparatus. Pasta should be firm but not snap in the middle, more importantly it should not be overcooked in mush-like fashion. Soft-boiled pasta is not tolerated in Italy.

Keep in mind that ancient glue and modern children’s playdough are…as pasta….a mixture water and flour. The word ‘paste’ should ring a bell. We do not want to associate the primadonna of Italian food to any of its inedible adhesive cousins. Overcooking pasta and humiliating it to a mere wallpaper fixative is a sin.

The package will probably say how long the pasta should cook for, but don’t trust it. A couple of minutes before it is supposed to be done, fish out a piece and bite it open; in the center you will see a whitish area of uncooked pasta that is poetically known as the anima, or soul of the pasta. Continue cooking the pasta until the anima barely fades.

Some pasta al dente fundamentalists modify that calculation taking into account altering factors such as water hardness, altitude and lunar cycle. Hard durum wheat vs fresh homemade pasta will need longer cooking times. That can range from 5 to 12 minutes according to shape, section thickness and size. The longest pasta shape to cook is farfalle (bow tie shape); the shortest are spaghetti and all its thinner forms like capelli d’angelo (angel hair).

Don’t break long pasta to fit the pot: it’s un-Italian. The enjoyment of “long goods” is in the twirling. Use a fork to bend and lower it as it cooks until it fits the pot. Boil the pasta in plenty of lightly salted water. And remember to stir occasionally.

Buon appetito!

Lola

Related Topics

Interview with Lola

More Soup Recipes

Clam Chowder Recipes

Many people who come to my site are looking for “the definitive recipe” for…whatever it might be: brownies, yellow cake, beef stew, etc. The truth is that there are very few definitive recipes. Recipes are rarely set in stone, and chefs and home cooks around the world vary ingredients based on availability and personal taste.

While I can’t give you a definitive recipe for clam chowder, I can talk about the different types of clam chowders and give you a basic recipe for each. Don’t hesitate to play with your ingredients and add or substitute product that you enjoy.

The broad definition of “chowder” is a seafood soup or stew, usually containing potatoes. According to that definition, any soup containing clams and potatoes is technically a clam chowder. That’s not to say that there aren’t distinct types of clam chowder out there, as well as folks willing to go to blows over which type is the best.

As far as I’m concerned, “the best” is the one that you like. I have my own preference, and it might not be the same as yours, but any soup or stew with potatoes and clams is really okay in my book.

The two types of clam chowders that most people have heard of are New England and Manhattan. New England clam chowder is traditionally cream based and “white.”

Manhattan clam chowder contains chunks of tomato and is “red.” Although the origins of both types are a bit murky, it is generally agreed that the New England style has been around longer than the Manhattan style. Regardless, as typical of chowders, both types contain seafood (clams, in this case) and potatoes. Both are fairly simply seasoned, and both are quite tasty.

New England Clam Chowder

• 3 slices bacon
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• Salt and white pepper, to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried herbs (parsley, thyme and oregano are nice)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup clam juice, fish stock or low sodium chicken stock
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups peeled and diced potato
• Several drops of hot sauce, to taste
• 2 cups chopped clams
• Fresh minced parsley, for garnish

Cook bacon in a soup pot over medium heat until crisp. Drain, cool and crumble. Set aside.

Over medium to medium-high heat, sauté the onions and celery with salt and white pepper, the bay leaf and the dried herbs. Cook until the vegetables are translucent and just beginning to turn golden around the edges.

Add the butter and flour. Stir for a minute or two, adjusting heat to medium.

Add the clam juice or stock or broth, the heavy cream and the diced potato. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about ten minutes.

Stir in the clams and hot sauce. Simmer for another 3-4 minutes. Taste and correct seasonings.

To serve, place some crumbled bacon in each bowl, top with the chowder and sprinkle on the parsley. Serve with saltines or oyster crackers.

Serves 4.

Manhattan Clam Chowder

• 3 slices bacon
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried herbs
• ½ cup white wine (optional)
• 1 cup clam juice
• 2 cups fish stock or low sodium chicken broth
• 1   16 oz can whole tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups peeled and diced potato
• 2 cups chopped clams
• Fresh minced parsley, for garnish

Cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain and crumble. Set aside.Sauté the onion and celery in the bacon drippings with salt and black pepper, bay leaf and dried herbs. Cook until the vegetables are softened and beginning to turn golden around the edges.

Return the bacon to the pan and add the wine. Reduce until almost dry.

Add the clam juice, stock or broth and undrained tomatoes. Crush the tomatoes in the pot with the back of a wooden spoon, but leave them in fairly large pieces. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add the potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about ten more minutes.

Taste and correct the seasonings.

If you would like the soup to be a little thicker, simply mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pan and stir to blend.

Ladle into bowls and top each with some fresh minced parsley.

Serves 4.

Related Topics:

All About Clams

Soup Recipes

Clams Casino

Sweet Corn Soup

Creamy Corn Soup

With all the wonderful local Jersey sweet corn available, I had to come up with some new ideas to use it whether it is fresh or as leftover corn on the cob. I have seen a lot of recipes for soups that contain corn, but this soup is like eating the smooth, pureed essence of corn.  It is lovely as a side dish, but you could also add diced chicken and vegetables to make a hearty main course.

Make sure you use the sweetest corn available, because the better the corn, the better the soup.

Basic Corn Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 cups fresh corn kernels
• Kosher salt and white pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced thyme
• 4 cups corn stock (recipe follows) (you can also use canned low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock, if you’d rather)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup crème fraiche or sour cream
• Hot sauce, to taste

Heat a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.  Add butter and oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.

Add the corn kernels along with the salt, white pepper and thyme.  Cook corn kernels for about ten minutes, stirring frequently, until the kernels just begin to color.  Watch your heat and don’t let them burn.

Stir in the corn stock, heavy cream and crème fraiche.   Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.  If using sour cream, add it now—you don’t want sour cream to boil, or it will curdle. Taste and adjust seasonings.  Add a few drops of hot sauce, if you’d like.

Remove from the heat and carefully blend in batches until smooth.  When pureeing hot foods in a blender, be sure to only fill the blender jar halfway and to remove the center feed tube to let heat escape.  Start the blender on low speed first, then increase to high.

You can also blend this right in the pan with an immersion blender.  Check the consistency.  If you’d like it a little thicker, continue to simmer until it has reached your desired consistency.  If you think it is too thick, thin it out with a little broth, water or even some more cream.

Strain soup through a fine strainer and serve hot, garnished with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraiche and some freshly minced herbs.

To make a lower-fat version, stir in 3 tablespoons of corn starch or flour along with another tablespoon of oil after you’ve cooked the corn for about eight minutes.  Stir well and continue to cook for another minute or two before adding the corn stock or vegetable stock.

Use 2 cups whole milk in place of the heavy cream and crème fraiche.

How to Make Corn Stock

• cobs from which you cut the corn kernels, cut in half
• 1 large onion, scrubbed but unpeeled, cut into four pieces
• 1 shallot, scrubbed and unpeeled, cut in half
• 6 white peppercorns
• A few thyme stems
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups cold water, or enough to just cover the cobs and vegetables

Put all the ingredients in a stock pot.  Add the water.

Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for three to four hours.  Spoon off any scum that rises to the surface.

Strain through a fine strainer.  If necessary, reduce over medium-high heat until you have four cups.

Related Topics

The Reluctant Gourmet Soup Recipes

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Jersey Sweet Corn