PASTA E FAGIOLI FUGGADABOUDIT

This soup has so many good things in it.  First it has pancetta, which is bacon that has not been cured, so it's a nice piece of pork belly...lot's of carrots, celery and tomatoes, and cannellini beans packed with protein and fiber.  A great fall soup for the goumbah's.  A word of caution though, this recipe took loads of time, so it might be best for a Saturday or Sunday rather than a work/school night.


2 cups dried cranberry, cannellini or other small white beans
3 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped pancetta
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
8 cups water or chicken stock, or as needed
1 1/2 cups diced canned plum tomatoes
2 tsp. salt, plus more, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 lb. small dried pasta, such as shells or ditalini
Extra-virgin olive oil for serving
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving
 
 
 
First, rinse and drain your beans, getting rid of any stones which are little shriveled beans that look like pebbles, not bam bam

Get them into the pot and boil for two minutes, take them off the heat and cover for...wait for it...ONE HOUR!

Meanwhile you can get your veggies chopped and your garlic prepped

side bar:  besides looking cool, it's important to

try to have your diced veggies about the same

size so that they cook evenly.  You don't want

to be eating soup and have some nice soft carrots,

and then some giant crunchy ones

Dice up the pancetta.  I would probably go about half this size next time.  These were a little big for soup.

Although not pictured, you want to get the pancetta into the pot with some oil on medium heat until it softens and the fat starts to ooze out of it a bit, about five minutes.  Then add the veggies and garlic and go another ten.

Get the broth and the tomatoes ready and once the beans have been drained add it all to the mix

Bring this beautiful pot of you talkin to me to a boil and reduce to a simmer covered for...wait for it.....ONE MORE HOUR...

Once the soup is done and the beans are tender, it's time to cook the pasta.  We used medium sized whole wheat shells which were perfect because the hold little complete bites of soup inside of them.  Make sure to cook them al dente as they will continue to cook in the soup.  We separated our shells and soup, so once the soup was done in the big pot, we put just enough soup and shells for dinner into a smaller pot and cooked that for an additional 5 minutes.  We then put the noodles into a separate container and when it was time to reheat, did so in the smaller pot.  This way you can avoid over cooking the shells making them mushy...which is gross.

Freshly grated parmagiano reggiano and course black pepper and mota bella...bon appetito!