Pasta and Beans are one of the most well-known recipes from Italy’s rural culinary tradition. It dates back to a time when meals and ingredients followed the rhythm of the seasons. From north to south, Italy is full of soups and vegetable creams, each one delicious and worth trying. I have no idea how many regional and family variations of pasta and beans exist across the country.
In Emilia-Romagna, for example, the pasta used in this soup is almost always fresh—typically maltagliati or quadrucci. My maternal grandmother often added a handful of dried chestnuts to my house, which she soaked overnight with the beans.
At Home and in the Osteria
Pasta and beans are a dish rooted in the peasant tradition. They are enjoyed both at home and in osterie (traditional taverns), where there was almost always a cook preparing simple, homemade-style meals.
The old osterie in Romagna and Bologna would serve this humble yet flavorful dish during the colder months.
It was a seasonal meal, inexpensive—even for the diner—and kept warm in a covered pot, gently simmering on the old wood stoves. Often, the osterie was just one large room, and the aroma of the bean soup would wrap around and tempt the cold, hungry customers.
Pasta and beans
Traditionally, this soup was cooked in an earthenware pot, which I still use today—thanks to the care of those who used it before me, passing it down from generation to generation.
Then, it’s an affordable, flavorful, and easy dish to prepare.
My grandmother Sara used to add a few dried chestnuts, though roasted ones also work if that’s what you have.
Of course, you can make it without chestnuts and a clay pot.
My grandmother used to strain the leftovers from the soup, separating the beans and pasta from the liquid.
She would add water to the bean broth to thin it out, then used it to cook passatelli (bean broth with passatelli recipe). Even this humble dish is mostly forgotten today but deserves to be brought back.
Buona cucina, Monica
Maltagliati pasta
At home, grandma usually added maltagliati to the bean soup. Maltagliati is a fresh pasta that comes from leftover pasta sheets. To make it, cut the leftover pieces of the sfoglia irregularly and preserve them in a glass jar. You can use any size of short pasta.
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Pasta and beans
Ingredients
- 1 carrot
- 1 stick of celery
- 1 small yellow onion
- 30 g of olive oil
- 30 g of butter
- a few sage and bay leaves
- 100 g of dried borlotti beans
- 20 g of red wine optional
- 3 g of tomato paste
- 2 liters of water
- 3 g of coarse salt
- 130 g of maltagliati or other fresh pasta like quadrucci
- grated Parmigiano Reggiano, to serve
Instructions
- The night before, soak the beans and, if you like, a handful of dried chestnuts in a large bowl full of cold water.
- The next day, drain the beans, rinse them under running water, and set aside.
- Choose a large pot and set it aside.
- Finely chop the onion, carrot, and celery and cook for a few minutes over low heat in a bit of olive oil and a knob of butter. Then, add the sage and bay leaves.
- Pour the beans into the pan. Stir again and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the red wine, let it evaporate while stirring over high heat, add the tomato paste, stir, and then add the water.
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and cook on low heat for about an hour and a half or until the beans are tender.
- Turn off the heat and remove 1/3 of the beans from the pot. Remove sage and bay leaves.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the contents of the pot until creamy. Taste and add salt if needed.
- Bring the broth back to a boil, and then add the pasta and the whole beans. Lower the heat and cook for a few minutes, stirring.
- Serve the soup hot with grated Parmesan aside.
Tip
- If you like, before serving, sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.
