Pasta Fagioli

I didn’t really discover past fagioli until I moved to Philadelphia—gee, that was more than 13 years ago now. And yet, a blink of an eye. ... Admittedly, when I first heard the name, I thought it was some heavy pasta-and-marinara dish. I didn’t realize it was a soup until the first bowl was placed before me.

Pasta fagioli is a popular dish in Philadelphia, perhaps largely due to the South-Philly Italian influences. I defy you to find an Italian restaurant (authentic or inauthentic) in this city that doesn’t at least rotate this soup on their menu. Many consider it a staple, a house specialty. And though most recipes share a common bond of simple ingredients, each cook’s take on pasta fagioli is differentiated in some way—by spice, seasoning, thickness, texture.

I made (practically) a vat of pasta fagioli last week, following the simple steps below. I’ve had it for lunch, on its own with just a slice of crusty bread as an accompaniment, and for dinner with more sophisticated sides—a seafood antipasto one evening that was basically an Italian ceviche. D-lish. I hope you’ll enjoy this Italian comfort food as much as my family.

Ingredients
3 boxes of organic chicken stock
1/2lb. of Ditalini pasta (or any small pasta will do)
2 large, yellow onions (diced)
Three carrots (peeled and diced)
A bunch of celery, with about four or five stalks (diced, including the leafy tops)
1 large can of organic, diced tomatoes
2 soup-sized cans of cannelloni beans
6 strips of bacon (chopped)
2 bay leafs
Salt & Pepper

Preparation

Brown and crisp bacon in bottom of a stock pot.

Add diced onions, carrots and bay leaf. Sweat vegetables until just softened.

Add the stock and tomatoes.

Season with fresh ground black pepper and sea or kosher salt.

Simmer for 30 minutes or so, allowing the liquids to reduce slightly; taste stock and add salt/pepper if needed.

Add cannelloni beans and the ditalini pasta. Simmer until pasta is cooked through (just past al dente).

Serve in large soup mugs with sliced baguette—or any kind of crusty bread.
Note: An easy twist on this recipe? Substitute the bacon with a spicy sausage, like a chorizo (chop up one large sausage or about two small-to-medium-sized links). For a marginally healthy alternative, use whole wheat pasta.