Wednesday 4 September 2013

Well tonight in Palmy it's pouring down and cold.. so what better than to make a big pot of the very yummy Pasta e Fagioli, or Pasta Fazool in some dialects. This is another recipe from Jonathon at Italy with Relish cooking school, where I had the privilege of attending for a week back in May. The history of the dish is that it is good hearty "peasant" food, made with good produce and everyday ingredients, it can vary across Italy, but has a similar basis. I am not a fan of tinned beans - but I absolutely LOVE this dish, so please don't be put off by them - give it a go, you WON"T regret it!

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool - That's Amore....)

1 carrot
1 onion
2 sticks of celery
about 250g chopped bacon
olive oil
1 tin of Borlotti Beans
handful of fettucine pasta
water
salt and pepper

Chop carrot, onion, celery and bacon into small pieces, place in a pot with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, saute till onion is soft. Add 2-3 cups of water and simmer for as long as you can - ideally 1-2 hours on a low heat if you can, but if you don't have that much time, just as long as you can, the longer it simmers the more flavour you can get.

About 10 mins before serving add about 1/3 of the beans from the tin, the other 2/3 and the juice they are in goes into a blender and you blitz it until it is liquid and it should thicken. Add then bean mix to the soup and stir. Add the fettucine (I break mine up into about 2cm bits, as it's easier when you come to eat it) stir and cook until the pasta is done.

I taste mine and then season as required, sometimes it needs more salt than other times, and I have found using celery salt definitely assists the flavour!

If more liquid is required it can benefit from adding some chicken stock, it really is a dish you can play with to get the flavour you like.

I serve mine with warm crusty bread, YUMMO!!

Happy Cooking!