Photo: Creamy Spaghetti and Beans Recipe
Risotto meets pasta e fagioli in this Tuscan classic.
Ingredients
- 5 to 6 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 pound chunk pancetta chopped into small dice
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, cut into a small dice
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 5 to 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 (15-ounce) can Roman beans or small white beans (recommended: Goya brand)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup dry white wine, eyeball it
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- A generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Directions
Place the stock in a sauce pot and warm it over medium heat then reduce to simmer.
Heat the extra-virgin olive oil and the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the pancetta to brown slightly. Next add the garlic and spaghetti and toast the noodles lightly, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions and carrots, bay leaf and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Soften veggies a bit, 5 minutes. Add wine and allow it to be completely absorbed. Add beans then add a few ladles of stock and stir the pasta. Keep adding stock a few ladles at a time allowing liquids to be mostly absorbed before adding more, as if you were preparing a risotto. When liquids are absorbed and spaghetti is cooked to al dente, 12-15 minutes, stir in cheese. Adjust salt and pepper. Turn off heat and stir another minute. Remove the bay leaf and thyme stems. Serve in shallow bowls and garnish with lots of parsley.
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By KendallToledo
on February 06, 2013
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Excellent flavors and texture! I just adore risotto and when I saw this, made with pasta, I was instantly intrigued. I did break up the spaghetti, as others suggested, but only if half. Next time I make this, which will be very soon, I'll break it into thirds; much easier to stir that way.
By Dastardly Gal
on January 01, 2013
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Really, really good. My picky 14 year old loves it and has for a couple years of making it. When she has friends sleep over, I usually fix it, and they like it, too. I got tired of the spaghetti snapping and trying to cook it with the pans I have, so I found cut spaghetti and it worked perfectly. Unfortunately, the two companies who made cut spaghetti quit making it, so I go to the Mexican section of Price Chopper and get a couple packages ofcut vermicelli for .39 cents a package and it works like a dream! No spaghetti popping out of the pan and landing on the stove or floor. I don't drink wine, so never had it, either, just used chicken broth or stock instead and it was just as delicious without the wine. I do have some white wine that I HAD to have for a recipe,so now, have to try it with the wine and see if it tastes any different or better. This is a keeper recipe, for sure!
By Orlando.Lana
on April 29, 2012
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Leftovers the next morning topped with an over-easy egg are YUM-O!!! I made the recipe a little different. I drained a can of diced tomatoes flavored with basil and garlic and added the liquid to the broth. I added the diced tomatoes when adding the beans and also added a couple of handfuls of spinach just before the pasta was finished. This recipe was a winner! I did end up breaking some of the pasta in the pan while toasting, so next time I'll break it when I add it.
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