Pasta and Bean Soup (Pasta e Fagioli)
This pasta e fagioli is cooked to the thickness of a stew, with a full cup of olive oil simmered into the beans and no tomato to get in the way. The result is deeply savory, built on garlic, bay and slow-cooked white beans. It comes from the Brooklyn Italian tradition of meatless Friday suppers. It keeps well, so it is just as good reheated or eaten cold the next day.
Instructions
Wash the beans and put them in salted water, using three parts water to one part beans. Either soak them overnight, or bring them to a boil, boil for 2 minutes, then cover and let them stand for 1 hour.
Do not drain the beans. Bring them to a boil in their soaking water and skim off any foam that rises to the top.
Add the olive oil, the unshelled garlic clove and the bay leaf. Simmer for about 2 hours, until the beans are tender.
Cook the macaroni separately for 6 to 7 minutes, stopping before it turns soft. Drain it, keeping some of the cooking water.
Stir the pasta and the hot red pepper into the beans and simmer until the pasta is al dente. If the pot looks too thick, loosen it with some of the saved pasta water.
Serve garnished with more red pepper to taste and chopped parsley.
Make it personal.
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