What can I say about Pasta e Fagioli? Affectionately called "Pasta Fazool", this pasta and bean soup is somehow light and hearty at the same time. It's a chameleon - a soup the first day and more of a pasta dish the second day when the pasta has absorbed all of the brothy goodness, and so flexible you can easily customize it to your exact taste preference. I started making it regularly as a college student for my roommates and friends, a comforting (and inexpensive) dish to feed body and soul. It tastes like something your grandmother would make, even if you never had an Italian grandmother. It tastes like home.
Guess who's run out of paper napkins?
What I love most about this recipe is it's versatility. You need some sort of pork product (sausage, pancetta, guanciale, bacon...), some sort of canned beans (cannellini, great northern, small white beans...) aromatics (onion, garlic, carrots, celery), tomato, short cut pasta (ditalini, elbows, small shells), broth and herbs. And a little parmesan (or pecorino). If you have any combination of these ingredients, you can make Pasta e Fagioli. The garlic cheese bread I made is also not my usual crusty ciabatta or baguette. Instead, I used what I had, which was a mixed bag of leftover heels of sandwich bread and a few hamburger buns. Still cheesy. garlicky and buttery, nobody complained and the basket was emptied. Waste not, want not.
I wish I could send you a big bowl
Pasta e Fagioli (serves 6)
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
3-4 oz. cubed pancetta (or Italian sausage, or bacon, or ham)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery (use the inner stalks with the leaves, if you have them)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dark greens, shredded (spinach, kale, chard, escarole...)
2 dried bay leaves
1 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cans beans, rinsed and drained (I use cannellini beans)
1 cup tomato sauce (or jarred marinara sauce, or tomato puree...)
6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock, or water with bullion...)
1 1/4 cup pasta (use something small enough to be picked up with a spoon - ditalini is my favorite)
Rind of Reggiano cheese (or grana padano, or domestic parmesan... if you don't have one, no worries, it just makes it even better)
Fresh chopped parsley
Fresh grated parmesan cheese
Method:
Heat a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add oil. Add pancetta and start to render. When it just begins to brown, add onion, carrot and celery. Add herbs, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until everything starts to soften. Add tomato paste and cook for a minute or two. Add greens and garlic and sauteé until greens begin to wilt. Add beans, tomato sauce and broth. Raise heat and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cheese rind. reduce heat to medium high and cook until pasta is tender (depends on shape you use but should be no more than 10 minutes. Reduce to a simmer and keep warm until ready to serve. Remove bay leaves and cheese rind before serving. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese and parsley.
Waste Not, Want Not Garlic Cheese Bread
Ingredients:
6-8 pieces of any sturdy bread (I used the heels of sliced sandwich bread and hamburger buns, so seriously, you can use just about any kind of bread you have)
4 tbsp salted butter, melted
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried parsley (or fresh chopped)
Sprinkle of parmesan cheese
Method:
Heat oven to broil and place rack on top setting. Arrange bread on a parchment lined baking sheet. If using buns, separate them (or if whole cut across the equator so you have two halves). Add garlic powder and parsley to melted butter and stir. Spoon butter mixture over bread, edge to edge. Sprinkle cheese on top. Broil until golden brown and heated completely. Keep an eye on it, it can burn fast. Cut bread into wedges and serve.