Cooking With Maddie Newsletter #21

Pasta e Fagioli

Hi friends! 

I’m beaming — or should I say, beaning— you’ll get that here in a second— with excitement because this week’s newsletter is all about Pasta e Fagioli. 

Pasta e fagioli, translated to pasta and beans, is a traditional Italian soup that stole my heart late last summer. You might be familiar with it as another name— pasta fazool— which is equally as fun to say as pasta e fagioli. Food should be fun to eat and say, right? The soup is pretttty classic Italian, meaning you should definitely listen to some Italian music when you’re cooking this.

I’ve been chomping at the bits to share this recipe with you all since I first made it last August, only then, I realized not everyone might want to eat hot soup in the middle of summer. I mean, I do, but as you know, for me, every season is soup season.

Instead, I’ve been waiting not-so-patiently for the temperature to drop, coats to be worn and snow to be shoveled to share this bad-boy. And guess what! That’s right now! And seriously, thank god because we needed something warm to give us comfort after last week. Something to mimic a big nonna hug. To remind us that good still exists — and that good comes in the form of an warm, hearty soup that puts the two best foods— pasta and beans— in the same damn bowl.

While I really wanted to share a pasta e fagioli recipe with you back in August, I’m happy I didn’t because in all honesty, I hadn’t perfected it yet. For me, the best part of cooking — besides eating the final product, of course— is figuring out what elements of a recipe you love, what you want to change and really making it your own.

The recipe I’m sharing with you today is the result of trial and error, lots of reading and researching and crafting what the perfect pasta e fagioli recipe is for me. And in the same way, I hope you use this recipe as a jumping off point to figure out what parts of it you love— and what you want to leave behind.

Because here’s the awesome thing about pasta e fagioli— despite it being a classic Italian dish, there’s a million different ways to make it. Every Italian chef, family or restaurant will do it a little bit differently— and likely say their way is the best way.

Take the wonderful Carla Lalli Music— her recipe, which you can find in her cookbook, Where Cooking Begins, really focuses on tradition, and there’s a lot of things in her recipe that I love— and therefore borrowed in my own. She pulses her soffritto (usually onion, carrot, celery but Carla uses leeks instead) in the food processor, making the veg essentially disappear into the soup. She makes use of that Parmesan rind you’ve been storing in your freezer. She adds Tuscan kale, which makes you feel like you’re being kinda healthy, even though you’re eating a big bowl of pasta and beans. And she is the only person I’ve found to cook her pasta in a separate pot so that the pasta doesn’t absorb all the delicious broth, and vice versa, the pasta doesn’t make the soup too thick. 

But my recipe isn’t exactly Carla’s — Carla uses dried beans, which I never have the memory to pre-soak the night before. Also, TBH I’m just a canned bean type of girl. Always have been, always will be. She also lets her soup simmer for up to three hours, which I’m sure makes the soup incredibly flavorful, but on a normal weeknight, there’s no way in hell I’m waiting three hours to eat. And you already know that if I have a ham hock, I’m making split pea soup— not putting it in pasta e fagioli.

So I took the bits of Carla’s recipe I loved, and kept searching for other recipes that better fit into my day-to-day life. That’s when I found this recipe by Delish. Their version focuses on accessibility and speed— they use canned beans (bingo!), Italian sausage (which is easier to find than a ham hock or pancetta) and it only takes 20 minutes to make— something I was pretty skeptical of when I first made it.

But as I’m sure you’ve guessed, there were parts of the Delish version that I didn’t love either. While it was definitely easier to make, some of the shortcuts made me sad, and it was missing some of the classic elements that give me the Under The Tuscan Sun vibes I’m looking for when I eat a bowl of pasta e fagioli.

Finally, just last week, I was casually flipping through my inherited copy of Soups & Stews, as one does, and their recipe of pasta e fagioli gave me everything I needed to ultimately perfect my own version.

First off, they describe the dish as “a hearty, nutritious peasant soup,” which I find fantastic. The recipe uses a lot of the traditional components like Carla’s does, but the cooking time is closer to the recipe from Delish. They use pancetta as the source of saltiness and meatiness, which I prefer over Italian sausage. Don’t come @ me— I love Italian sausage— just not in my pasta e fagioli. Essentially, the recipe had everything I needed to finally perfect my own version, which was kind of my plan all along.

So here you have it— my version of Pasta e Fagioli. A version evolved from bits and pieces of some of my favorite recipes out there— and hopefully a version that continues to evolve as you make it your own!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil 

• 3 oz pancetta, cubed 

• 1 medium white onion

• 2 celery stalks

• 2 large carrots, peeled

• 3 garlic cloves 

• 1 teaspoon oregano 

• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper 

• 2 bay leaves 

• Salt and pepper 

• 1 15 oz can whole peeled tomatoes 

• 1 Parmesan rind — when you get to the rind of your Parm hunk, throw it in a ziplock bag and into the freezer!

• 1 bunch kale, stems removed and torn 

• 2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 

• 4 cups chicken broth 

• 4 cups water 

• 8 oz Ditalini or other small pasta 

• Fresh parsley, chopped 

Start by heating your olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add your cubed pancetta and cook until starting to brown and fat releases, about 3 minutes. You can find pancetta at the deli counter of your local grocery store. 

In a food processor, add your onion, celery, carrots and garlic, and pulse until everything is finely chopped. Add the veggie mixture to the dutch oven. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the liquid starts to disappear. 

Add oregano, crushed red pepper, bay leaves, salt and pepper to the pot. Cook another 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

Using your hands, crush and tear the whole tomatoes into small pieces, and add to the pot. Also add its juices. This part is completely fun, and worth not buying pre-crushed tomatoes.

Add the Parmesan rind, torn kale and beans to the pot. Stir so that everything has a chance to intermingle. Cook for about 5 minutes. 

Add chicken stock and water to the pot, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer, and let cook with a lid ajar for 30 minutes. 

In a separate pot, bring heavily-salted water to a boil. When there’s about 5 minutes left on your soup timer, drop in your pasta and cook until al dente, which is a few minutes less than what it says on the package. We were so excited to use Ditaloni, which we bought from Viviano’s on the Hill. Go to your Italian grocery store, my friends! 

Drain pasta and add to the soup. Remove Parmesan rind and bay leaves. 

Top each bowl of soup with a splash of olive oil, fresh parsley, Parmesan and a few flakes of crushed red pep. 

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For what’s giving me life this week, it was getting to dine indoors at our favorite neighborhood spot, Highland Tavern. We went multiple times this weekend, just dropping in to tell them we missed them and love them. And to eat their tots. Oh god, how I’ve missed their tots.

It was being overly caffeinated by vietnamese coffee. It was starting and finishing Verity by Colleen Hoover in less than three days. Go read this NOW. It was all three roommates buying the TULA cooling & brightening eye balm— only to realize we had to label them so we don’t get them confused. It was working from my girl Care’s WeWork. If you’re in Denver, hit her up if you want to work in a rad space. Also, commission her for some artwork. But mine comes first. I’m already in line! 

Wish I was with you, 

Maddie 

If you haven’t noticed, I try to always link any book recommendations from one of my favorite small business book stores, Rainy Day Books. Please, please buy your books from a small business. I know they’re cheaper on Amazon, but wouldn’t you rather spend your money where it matters?!