Pasta Fagioli, Pasta Fazool, This Italian Soup Sure Does Rule

Don't be a fool, eat some pasta fazool!

When the stars make you drool, just-a like pasta fazool, that's amore. This peasant dish makes me want to put on Martin's greatest hits and dance around the kitchen, or watch Chico Marx playing with one finger at the piano or saying, "You can't-a fool me. There ain't no Sanity Clause." Or insert any stereotypical Italian cultural cliché of your choice here.

Vintage Betty, circa 1980. That would
be about right.

I first made a version of this bean and pasta soup when I was a young bride of 19 tender years of age. My first real cookbook was Betty Crocker's International Cookbook. It was far from authentic, but I felt so cosmopolitan using it! I still base my fried chicken off a version of "her" Mexican Fried Chicken, marinated in lime juice and garlic. But there were some scary things in there as well, like a chicken curry that was so Anglicized it was just terrible, and a shrimp creole that called for ketchup. Ick.

But the pasta fagioli recipe was pretty good, although very basic. We would drink Taylor California Cellars boxed burgundy with it. We were just as clueless about Parmesan as about wine, using that god awful dry sawdust stuff in the green can. And no one had heard about pancetta back then, so I am sure the original recipe I used didn't call for it. But including it? Boy, ain't that a kick in the head!

Mangia!

Pasta Fagioli

Adapted from Chef Joe Cicala's recipe in the The Washington Post

Abbondanza!

Ingredients

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

4 ounces pancetta, diced

1 medium yellow onion, finely diced

2 medium carrots, finely diced

2 medium ribs celery, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine

7 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

2 (14.5 ounce) cans cannellini beans or chickpeas (or combination), rinsed and drained (I just go with cannellini beans. Don't care much for chickpeas, except as hummus)

1/2 cup dried lentils, rinsed (preferably French green lentils, but any green or brown lentils are fine)

1 cup diced or chopped canned tomatoes, with their juices

1 tbsp. tomato paste

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary

1 1/2 cups dried pasta, such as elbow macaroni or ditalini (I used tirali)

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving

Instructions

Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the pancetta and cook until the fat begins to render, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, carrot and celery and increase the heat to medium; cook, stirring frequently, until the onions become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly so the garlic doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

Add the wine and cook until it has nearly evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, salt, pepper, beans, lentils, diced tomatoes, bay leaves and rosemary. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the lentils are just tender, 15-30 minutes, depending on the type of lentils you used.

Or you could just use a hand blender,
and save some clean up!

Use a slotted spoon to transfer 1 cup of the bean mixture and a little liquid to a blender. Remove the center knob so steam can escape. Hold a paper towel or kitchen towel over the opening to prevent splatters. Purée until smooth and set aside.

Add the dried pasta to the pot and stir to incorporate. Turn the heat up to a gentle boil and cook until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, anywhere from 8-12 minutes depending on the type of pasta you used. The soup will thicken a bit by the time the pasta is cooked. Fish out and discard the bay leaves.

Stir the reserved puréed bean mixture into the soup. (If you're having a hard time getting the mixture out of the blender, remove as much as you can with a rubber spatula, then add some of the hot soup broth to it and swirl around to loosen it up; it should come right out.) Cook briefly, until the soup is heated through.

Remove the soup from heat and stir in the Parmigiano-Reggiano. If the soup seems too thick, gradually add 1-2 cups of water or more chicken broth and thin to desired consistency (note: the longer it sits on the stove, the thicker it will get). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls. Drizzle each portion with a touch of extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with more cheese, if desired.

Note: This soup will be thick and will get more thick in the fridge. To thin it out, add some water, or white wine, or some chicken stock as you reheat. It's so lovely the second day!