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Pasta Fagioli Cremosa - Creamy Bean Pasta

A warming, hearty dish from the cucina povera tradition of Southern Italy


Dark, rich, warming and hearty - this is what my gran would make and I would wolf down. A traditional dish from Southern Italy. Made famous by Martin Scorsese and The Sopranos. Dean Martin also sings of "pasta fazul" (apparently that's amore). There is a northern version that is closer to minestra. The lard is not lard! It is an Italian delicacy: sliced thinly and often spread on toast - it has a dark, distinctive tase. If you can't get any - no matter! I wouldn't try substituting anything for it; it really is a distinctive flavour.

 

INGREDIENTS

celery

onion

carrot

garlic

bacon or ham or pork

lardo

borlotti beans - other beans are fine, but borlotti are authentic to this dish

passata

bay leaves

ditali pasta - again, anything you fancy - but short - like macaroni works well here. Ditali is what my gran would use

stock - ham, chicken, vegetable - whichever you have

rosemary

 

Watch the video


METHOD

  • Finely chop up the carrot, celery, onion and garlic

  • Heat oil in a pan and add the sofritto (the chopped veg)

  • Cook this down - "sweat it" as they say - for a good 10-15 minutes till it's soft

  • Meanwhile, chop up the rosemary

  • finely dice the bacon and the lardo

  • Add the meat to the sofritto

  • Stir it in and let it cook for 5-10 minutes

  • Add the beans and stir them through

  • Add the bay leaves and cook for about 10 minutes

  • Add the passata - I clean out the jar with hot water and add that too

  • Stir it all together, cook for about 10 minutes

  • Take a couple of ladles of the broth and pop them into a bowl or jug

  • Add the stock - 700ml - 1L

  • Add 250g - 300g of pasta

  • Stir and cover

  • Cook for about 20 minutes

  • Blitz up the ladles of broth you took

  • When the pasta is cooked, add the blitzed broth and the rosemary and stir it through

  • Pop the lid on and cook for another 10 minutes or so

  • Plate up and serve with grated parmesan


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