Pasta e Fagioli is an Italian soup with pasta and beans. It is a comforting dish to make during any season, but really warms you up on a cold winter day. It’s inexpensive to make and packed with Italian herbs and flavors. Pasta e Fagioli is hearty and delicious.
In the late 1990’s, I worked for WNED-TV in Western New York as a producer/director. I was surrounded by so many talented people and we would often go to lunch together. One day we went to an Italian restaurant and one of my colleagues, Fran Lucca, suggested I try Pasta e Fagioli– an Italian soup with pasta and beans. It came to the table with steam rising from the hot bowls of soup. The soup was hearty and so flavorful. It has been a wonderful memory for me over the years and a soup that I love to this day. Thanks, Fran! Here’s my recipe for Pasta e Fagioli…Perfecto!
Pasta e Fagioli
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (Tuscan Herb flavored olive oil is amazing in this recipe.)
- 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey (The meat can be omitted for a vegetarian version of this soup.)
- 1 cup yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 -32 ounce box of chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 -15 ounce can stewed tomatoes
- 1 -15 ounce can of tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil (or 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 -15 ounce can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 -15 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or great northern beans)
- 1 cup dry pasta, ditalini or small shells
- Shredded Parmesan cheese, for garnish
How to make Pasta e Fagioli?
- Put one tablespoon of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Remove the meat and drain on a paper towel. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the Dutch oven and add the onions, carrots and celery. Saute for 6-8 minutes until the vegetables are softened.
- Many recipes begin with mirepoix, which is onion, celery and carrots cut to the same size. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the ground beef back to the pot, along with the chicken stock, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, and water. Continue cooking for 20 minutes.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the pasta and the cheese. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the soup for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the soup is cooking, cook the pasta in boiling water for 5 minutes. Strain and add the cooked pasta to the soup. Allow the soup to simmer until the pasta is fully cooked and you are ready to eat.
- Stir in some chopped spinach or kale just before serving, if desired.
Serve the Pasta e Fagioli with your favorite crusty bread or crackers and some shredded Parmesan cheese sprinkled generously on top. Fresh parsley is also a nice way to finish this dish. The recipe makes 6 servings. Pasta and beans never tasted so good!