Photo: Cranberry Bean Pasta Fagioli Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 2-ounce piece pancetta (optional)
- 5 canned whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
- Kosher salt
- 3 pounds fresh cranberry beans in pods, shelled (or 1 cup dried cranberry beans, soaked overnight)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 piece parmesan cheese rind, plus 1/2 cup grated parmesan, and more for topping
- 2 cups small pasta, such as shells or ditalini
- 1 bunch kale, stems and ribs discarded, leaves chopped
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
- Freshly ground pepper
Directions
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, rosemary and pancetta, if using, and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook 2 more minutes; season with salt. Add the beans, 3 quarts water, the bay leaves and parmesan rind. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the beans are tender, 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Uncover the pot and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Add the kale and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 6 more minutes. (The soup should be thick and creamy; thin with water, if necessary.)
Remove the bay leaves, parmesan rind and pancetta, if used. Add the grated parmesan, parsley, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Top with more olive oil and parmesan.
Photograph by Tina Rupp
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By nena81
Fresno, CA
on December 18, 2011
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I made this recipe for my family and they loved it! I also made a few changes cause I couldn't find all the ingredients. I added canned kidney beans instead of the cranberry beans, added some italian chicken sausage, added more pancetta and left it in the soup. I also added grated parmesan cheese on top of each bowl. Everyone loved it. My dad said that he'd never tasted a soup as good in any restaurant. They now ask for it all the time!
By chris81305
on December 06, 2011
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This was deicious. I made quite a few changes though. I uses 2 slices of crispy bacon broken up into pieces instead of pancetta. I left the bacon in the soup. I also used one container of chicken stock and one extra can of chicken broth instead of using water. This will give the soup much more flavor than water. It was impossible to find cranberry beans so I used one can on navy beans and one can of pinto. Since the beans were canned I found the soup did not need to cook for the two hours. I aso added extra tomatoes and juice (maybe 5 -7 extra tomatoes. One cup to one and a half cups pasta was plenty and thickened the soup when added. The kale and the parm cheese made it even tastier. Serve it with some crusty bread. My husband said it was the best pasta fagioli he has ever had.
By hollyraynes
Newton, MA
on November 27, 2011
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great pasta fagioli recipe. here's how to make it much better. don't need all the olive oil. add carrots. 3 cloves garlic. big onion. more pancetta, keep it in the soup. more tomatoes, with juice. use white beans. use chicken broth instead of water. don't add too much salt, already salty with pancetta.
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