Pasta e fagioli: Tuscan pasta and cannellini bean soup
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Pasta e fagioli (Tuscan pasta and bean soup)
Italian cooking is so regional that there are dozens of versions of this hearty soup. In Tuscany we use white cannellini beans; the darker borlotti are more common further north.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 6 servings
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Dairy-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 250 g (9 oz) dried cannellini beans
- A small strip of kombu seaweed (optional)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 6 sage leaves
- 2 celery stalks
- 3 carrots
- 1 small dried chili pepper
- Olive oil
- 4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 150 g (5 oz) small pasta, such as ditalini
- Salt
- Your best extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Instructions
- Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water.
- Drain, cover with fresh water and add the garlic, sage and seaweed (Tuscan grandmothers would use a pinch of baking soda instead).
- Cook the beans over low heat (in a terracotta pot, if you have one) for about 2 hours, until tender. Add salt only when they are almost done; any earlier and they break up.
- Very finely chop the celery and carrots.
- Cook them gently in olive oil in a large pot with the chili pepper until tender.
- Purée three-quarters of the beans with some of their cooking water. Add the purée, the remaining whole beans and the tomatoes to the pot.
- Cook for 30 minutes, then add the pasta, with a little more water if needed.
- When the pasta is cooked, serve dressed with excellent olive oil.
Notes
The times don’t include soaking the beans overnight.
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