HAPPY NEW YEAR!
After the excesses of the festivities, I love to go back to the simple, nourishing meals that are my favourite since I was a child. Like pasta e fagioli, pasta with beans, something my grandma Isa from Veneto – where they call it pasta e fasoi – used to make. It’s a tasty and comforting soup-like dish my Mum and I still prepare. Every time I make it, I wonder why I don’t eat it more often. So I’m making eating pasta e fagioli – and pulses in general – regularly one of 2025’s good intentions!
In the original recipe there’s also some diced lean pancetta or bits and pieces of prosciutto crudo, raw ham. You can use them for extra taste but if you add enough sea salt you won’t need them. I don’t even put Parmesan on this pasta because I prefer to savour the basic ingredients instead of the cheese: the herbs, the Celtic sea salt I love and especially the brown beans, cooked until they’re still somewhat firm. The perfect balance of softness without mushiness.
You can soak and boil them like I did, or use pre-cooked ones. The choice is all yours.
The type of pasta used for this dish is usually a short one: tubetti, ditali, penne or similar.
This is a simplified recipe without soffritto, the finely chopped mix of carrots, onion and celery. I don’t even use olive oil to cook the beans, only garlic and herbs, since I prefer to add the raw oil straight on the plate just before serving. Like this, the dish is lighter and quicker to make, yet still delicious.
For tastier results, use fresh herbs instead of dry ones.
SIMPLE PASTA E FAGIOLI
Serves 2
150 gr. dried brown beans (or 300 gr. cooked) – I’ve used
2 cloves of garlic
3-4 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
water
sea salt
e.v. olive oil
about 150 gr. of short pasta
Soak the beans in cold water for at least 8 hours. Rinse them well and put in a pan covered with abundant water.
If you use pre-cooked beans, rinse them and cover with (hot) water.
Add the herbs and the peeled garlic cloves, then put the pan on a very low heat with the lid on.
Leave to gently boil for about 1,5 hr. Check the pan from time to time: when the beans are getting softer but are not yet fully cooked, add some salt and let them boil further.
NOTE: the cooking time for pre-cooked beans is a lot shorter: just warm them up with water, garlic and herbs until they boil, then add the pasta.
Add the pasta and leave it to cook until al dente. Add some hot water regularly to avoid drying. The result has to be just a little soupy without being as liquid as a real soup.
Taste and add some extra salt if necessary.
Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil.
