Recipe: Pasta e Fagioli (Italian Pasta and Beans)

According to Dean Martin's daughter, Pasta e Fagioli (Italian Pasta and Beans) was his favorite dish. She talked about it on a documentary about him shown on TCM and mentioned some of the ingredients she uses, and it was shown being made. I thought it looked delicious so I decided to find a detailed recipe and compare it to what she mentioned and adapt it all and put something together and try it. 

Ya'll, this is so freakin' good and does NOT take a long time to prepare. And, like most things, it can be made the day before you serve it and refrigerated for the next day, because it's even better after it's sat for that long.  

The recipe below makes 10 hearty servings - you could easily stretch it out to 15 if you have something else to serve or a big dessert. So you might want to half everything here if you don't have that many mouths to feed. 

Leftovers can also be frozen and heated for later. 

We ate it with spoons, but it's not very soupy. 

And it's vegetarian!

Here's the recipe I used:

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (confession: I eye-balled it in the pot and I think I used more)
• 1 medium-to-large yellow onion, finely chopped (I used LARGE because of course I did)
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
• ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced (I used 6 and I chopped them)
• 1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes
• 4 cups vegetable broth (I may have done 5)
• 4 cups water (though I used more - probably 6 total)
• 2 bay leaves (I used 6)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (I used Italian seasoning)
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans (Dean Martin's daughter uses 2 cans progresso cantalini beans), Great Northern beans, or chickpeas, rinsed and drained (or 3 cups cooked beans)
• 1 cup (about 4 ounces) Tortiglioni, according to Dean Martin's daughter - though other recipes say cavatelli, cantalini, ditalini, elbow or any small shell pasta will work
• 2 cups chopped Tuscan kale (recipe says tough ribs removed first). I just used whatever Kale was in the grocery. You can also use chard or collard greens
• ¼ cup finely chopped Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about ½ medium lemon)
• salt and ground pepper (fresh if possible) to taste
• optional: ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Optional garnishes: Additional chopped parsley, black pepper, grated Parmesan cheese or light drizzle of olive oil

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

In a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat, warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, garlic, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and about 10 twists of black pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened and the onions are turning translucent, about 6 to 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, stir, and cook until the tomatoes are bubbling. Add the broth, water, bay leaves, oregano or Italian spices, and, if you have them and want them, the red pepper flakes.

Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.

Optional:

Use a heat-safe measuring cup to transfer about 1 ½ cups of the soup (avoiding the bay leaves) to a blender. Add about ¾ cup of the drained beans. Securely fasten the lid and blend until completely smooth, being careful to avoid hot steam escaping from the lid. Pour the blended mixture back into the soup. (Note - I didn't do any of this). 

Add the remaining beans, pasta, kale and parsley to the simmering soup. Continue cooking, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot, for about 20 minutes, or until the pasta and greens are pleasantly tender.

Remove the pot from the heat, then remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir in the lemon juice, the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. 

Taste and season with more salt and pepper until the flavors are what you want. Garnish bowls of soup as desired, and serve.

Leftovers taste even better the next day. Allow leftover soup to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Or, freeze leftover soup in individual portions and defrost as necessary.