Venetian style bean and pasta soup

Posted by Dana McMahan on April 23, 2008

We cook a lot with beans and I've grown a bit tired of standard bean soup recipes. So while flipping through an old Gourmet magazine this weekend, this Pasta e fagioli recipe caught my eye. It starts with a pretty standard bean soup recipe -- you sautée some onion, carrot and celery to cook in with your beans, but the end result is pureed. As popular as Pasta e fagioli seems to be on restaurant menus, I'd never actually tried it. So I cooked the beans Sunday and let them wait in the fridge until dinner tonight. Then it was super easy to reheat and top with some cooked pasta. Pasta e fagioli may come from humble peasant origins, but it's very tasty! Be sure to season it well or it could come out a bit bland.

Venetian style bean and pasta soup
adapted from Gourmet magazine
Serves 4

8 ounces dried white beans (1 1/3 cups), picked over and rinsed
5 cups water
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 piece Parmesan rind (ask at the cheese shop -- they're free)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
6-8 ounces dried small tubular pasta

Bring beans and water to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot and boil two minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour. (Do not drain beans or discard soaking liquid.)

Heat 1/8 cup oil in a wide 6- to 8-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat, then sauté onions with 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Add carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, rosemary, and pepper and sauté, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

Transfer beans with soaking liquid and Parmigiano-Reggiano rind along with onion mixture to a slow-cooker. Cook 4-6 hours until beans are very tender. Stir in 1/8 cup oil and remaining salt. Cool, uncovered, 20 minutes.

Discard rind and coarsely purée soup in batches in a blender, transferring as puréed to a large bowl.

At this point you can save the beans for later. Chill uncovered until cold then cover and keep up to a week in the fridge. We kept ours three days and they were delicious.

Return soup to pot and reheat over moderately low heat, stirring frequently and thinning soup as desired with pasta cooking water. Season well with salt and pepper.

While soup is reheating, cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain in a colander and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with olive oil and pepper to taste.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with spoonfuls of pasta, then drizzle with oil, remaining parsley and parmesan.

TAGS: Beans, Pasta, Rosemary
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