Pasta e Fagioli an Old World Style Pasta & Bean Soup Recipe

• Serves: 12
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients

• 3 celery stalks
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium potato
• 3 medium to large carrots
• 1/2 pound pasta (Ditalini)
• 1 pound of Small White Beans (or Great Northern's)
• Salt & pepper to taste
• ★ Optional Ingredients Listed Below ★
• 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1 - 2 teaspoons of Lemon Pepper
• Crispy bacon or diced ham
• 3 cubes Chicken or Beef bullion or natural style broth
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce. Tomato suace is not traditionally used in this soup but many prefer the additional flavor

Instructions

~ Start off by placing the beans in a large pot of water with a teaspoon of salt and bring it to a rolling boil.
You do not have to soak the beans overnight like you do for a few other recipes.

~ After you start the beans cooking, you'll start on the veggies by dicing the potato and placing it in a large pot filled with cold water.
The potato doesn't have to be part of the soup but I like to use it because it thickens things up and gives it body. You may either peel the potato or leave the skin on after cleaning it well.

~ Once the potato is diced then slice the celery & carrots into 1/4" pieces and roughly cut the onion.
For the onion you can use a white, yellow or red and each one will impart their own unique flavor. Most prefer a yellow skinned onion.

Throughout the years I've combined all this into one large pot and sometimes find that I'll have carrots cooked and potato's uncooked...seems things didn't get done all at the same time.

Now I prefer to put all the veggies into one pot along with the bullion and bacon ( if adding them) and let that cook on a slow roll for 30-45 minutes or until they are cooked soft tender. In with the veggies I'll put in the Lemon Pepper, Nutmeg and Paprika - these 3 spices are optional and if you have a favorite spice you can a little now or wait until the soup is completed to spice it to your particular taste.

The beans, meanwhile, are in a pot of their own boiling away in lightly salted water. The beans will be drained and rinsed so the salt won't be a factor.

~ About 2 hours after starting the beans cooking In a separate pot, place the Ditalini pasta in salted boiling water.
After maybe 10 or 11 minutes it's finished. Rinse off the pasta and hold aside.

~ Once the beans are cooked until almost soft .and the vegetables are to a desired tenderness., drain and rinse the beans and add to the veggies. The vegetable water is the stock so please don't get rid of that.
You will know when the bean are cooked and ready when they are fairly soft when you test a few. If you prefer not to eat a few you can blow on them and their skin will curl. However, tasting is the best way to be sure that they are to your liking.

~ If you want a thicker soup you can take 1 to 1 1/2 big ladles of the beans and place in a food processor or mash them and add to the vegetable pot.

~ Stir in the can of tomato sauce mostly for color and just a tad of taste.
~ Then add the cooked Ditalini and...voila.. you now have a pot of Pasta Fazool.

Salt shouldn't be needed because the pasta and beans cooked in salted water but I usually add a little anyway., along with either fresh cracked black pepper or home dried & crushed Habanaro pepper. Ummm, yeah.

As you can see you can vary the recipe according to your particular preferences & taste.
There is really no right or wrong way to make Pasta e Fagioli - so have fun - change it around - just remember Mangiare!