Ingredients

• Half of a pound bag of Great Northern beans. Sort for any stones.
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 lg. carrot, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp. of hot pepper flakes (If you do not want this very spicy, only use 1 tsp.)
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp. parsley, chopped
• 1 plum tomato or 3-oz. of tomato sauce (or both if you want a more tomatoey dish)
• 1 bouillon cube (chicken or beef)
• 1.5 cups of cooked pasta – ditalini or Creamettes (made from 3/4 cup of uncooked pasta)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Grated Romano cheese

 

Method

Place beans in a 6 qt. saucepan. Add water so that it covers the beans by about 3 inches. Bring to boil for 2 minutes. Then remove from heat and wait about a half hour for it to cool a bit.

While waiting for the beans to cool, chop a large onion and dice 2 cloves of garlic. Set aside. Then chop two stalks of celery and 1 large carrot.

Pour the beans out into a colander, draining them and then rinsing with cold water. Place them back in the pan and add fresh water (“This will avoid farts” – Laura C.). Our pot (see photo below) ended up filled three-fourths full with water – approximately doubling the depth of the beans. Put it on the stove and set it on high heat to boil again. Add the celery, carrot, bay leaf and red pepper flakes.

When the water is boiling. Place the whole tomato in the pot for 1 minute. Then remove the tomato and place it briefly in cold water. This will make peeling the tomato very easy. On the stove, reduce the heat to simmer under the pot of beans. Remove the tomato from the cold water and slit the skin end-to-end. Peel off the entire skin. Chop the skinned tomato into half-inch cubes.

Add three or four tablespoons of olive oil to a small frying pan and sauté the onion and garlic. DO NOT BURN GARLIC. When they are nearly done, add the salt, parsley, and tomato cubes (or tomato sauce) to the onions and garlic. As the tomato pieces are cooking, mash them with a potato masher or slotted spoon so they become pureed. Add one bouillon cube – either chicken or beef – and smash it into the mixture as well. Stir and cook till tomatoes are tender – just a few minutes. Then add this mixture to the boiling beans. Cover the pot with a lid and cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are done to personal taste. Test for doneness. (Usually takes at least 1.5 – 2 hours)

When the beans are done, add the pasta that had already been cooked al dente. Not fully-cooking the pasta in advance will allow it to soak up some of the liquid in the pot – but not too much. It is better to have the pasta e fagioli more watery rather than too pasty. You would only want to cook the pasta start-to-finish in the pot if you were left with an excessive amount of water with the beans – for example, if the water takes up more than half the pot.

Salt the finished dish to taste. Serve in bowls with freshly grated Romano Cheese on top. Freshly ground black pepper is a nice addition as well.

Variations: Chicken stock can be used in place of water in this recipe for an even richer flavor. Two tomatoes can be used instead of one. It’s easy to imagine modifications of amounts or ingredients after you’ve made it once or twice.

Annie: “When we were little, Mom pureed the soup through a sieve prior to adding the pasta so the kids would eat it, but the whole beans are delicious.”

Serves 4

– Grandma Laura Carcioppolo’s recipe