Pasta e fagioli
Also: Pasta Fazool, Pasta and Beans
A thick, rustic soup of beans and short pasta bound with olive oil and aromatic vegetables, popular in Italy and Monaco.
Identity criteria
- 1Beans (typically borlotti or cannellini) and short pasta are co-equal stars
- 2A thick, hearty soup consistency rather than a brothy one
- 3Built on a soffritto of aromatic vegetables
- 4Finished with good olive oil
- 5A humble cucina povera staple, not a refined dish
Components
Beans (borlotti or cannellini)essentialPart of the dish are mashed to thicken the soup
Short pastaessentialDitalini, maltagliati, or broken spaghetti
Onion, carrot, celery, garlic (soffritto)essentialThe flavor foundation
Olive oilessentialFor the soffritto and to finish
Tomato and bean brothessentialOften with a little tomato; cooking liquid thickens the soup
Grated cheese or rosemaryoptionalCommon finishing touches
Technique
- Soffritto sautéing
- Slow-cooked aromatics build the savory base
- Partial bean mashing
- Crushing some beans thickens the soup to its characteristic creamy body
- Pasta cooking in the soup
- Pasta releases starch into the broth, binding it together
Form & serving
- Served
- Thick soup in a bowl
- Temperature
- hot
- Portion
- generous bowl as a meal
- Pairs with
- crusty bread · olive oil drizzle · grated cheese
Character
Flavour
Texture
thick and creamy with tender beans and pasta
Eaten
A warming everyday main eaten in cooler months across Italy and Monaco, the archetype of cucina povera.
When
autumn · winter
Variations & related
Regional variations
- Monégasque version · Monaco
Local Ligurian-influenced take on the bean-and-pasta soup
- Napoletana · Naples, Italy
Tomato-forward, often with mixed pasta scraps
- Veneta · Veneto, Italy
Creamier, borlotti-heavy, sometimes with pork
Related dishes
- sibling Minestrone
Another rustic Italian vegetable-and-bean soup
- pairs-with Crusty bread
Classic accompaniment
Substitutions
Borlotti beans → Cannellini beansadmissible
Either common bean works well
Beans → No beans at allinadmissible
Without beans it is just pasta in broth, not pasta e fagioli
Common mistakes
- Making it too brothy when it should be thick and hearty
- Skipping the mashing of some beans, losing the creamy body
- Overcooking the pasta into mush
- Cooking the pasta separately and losing the starch that binds the soup
Provenance
A peasant bean-and-pasta soup of the broader Italian and Ligurian region, shared across Italy and neighboring Monaco.
Shared by: Monaco, Italy
References
- 1.General knowledge of Italian and Monégasque cuisine
Confidence: high