Pasta e fasuli
Matthew McAuliffe • 25 October 2017
"Pasta e fasuli fanno i figli belli"
(pasta and beans makes beautiful babies, a Napolitan saying)
I thought I’d post a savoury recipe, one that’s perfect for this cold weather. It’s actually my dad’s recipe too, which is currently being served as a special in the restaurant this month. In case you haven’t read y about me. My parents have an Italian restaurant and have done for 25 years now. Dad’s Italian and all the food is completely home-made, including all the pasta we make ourselves and he’s been teaching me everything he knows since I was, well, since I can remember.
Dad has asked if I would share this recipe with you because he loves it so much and reminds him of his mum and when he was growing up. When dad was growing up in the late fifties, his mum, my nonna would make this three times a week, firstly because of the lack of money they had growing up, its known as peasant food and secondly because everything they needed was grown from their own land. He mixes up the beans he uses in it each week, each type of bean is different depending which region you are in. Dad is from Napoli so they use cannellini beans, however this week he’s also been using borlotti beans.
Pasta e fasuli which is Neapolitan for pasta and beans, is probably one of the most famous soups in Italy and each region, even each family has so many different variations of it. It consists of inexpensive ingredients and it’s so easy to make! If you’re after a quick meal when you get in from work, this is the one!
The view from our house in Italy, where dad grew up
Ingredients:
- Beans – Literally any types of beans, dad actually gets them dry from Italy and soaks them over night, changing the water a couple of times and adding bicarbonate of soda. When Sam and I make it at home we use beans just from the tin, you can use one type of beans or a mixture. I use borlotti, cannellini and chickpeas. So 3 tins.
- Olive oil
- 100g pancetta
- 1 Onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery stick
- 1 Tbsp of tomato puree
- 1 litre of water
- 100g Ditalini pasta – Some people will just add any pasta or you can break up spaghetti too if you can’t get hold of Ditalini.
Chop onion, garlic, carrot, pancetta and the celery stick into cubes, heat up a sauce pan with olive oil and add it to the pan on a low heat. Continue to cook until everything is soft.
Add your beans, tomato puree and water and bring to a boil. Once boiled add your pasta. The beans do not need to be al dente, cook them through. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
Season at the very last minute and enjoy with a sprinkle of parmesan and some crusty bread.
Simple. Pasta e fasuli in three simple steps. It’s so easy to change this around too, add as many or little beans as you want, or more pasta, it can also be made vegetarian if you take away the pancetta. It’s really just made to your preference by taste testing it.
This soup and a glass of red will keep you warm with winter coming.
Hope you all enjoy it as much as we do.
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