Pasta e Fagioli… Our Family's 100+ Year Recipe for Pasta with Beans

Cranberry Beans a.k.a Bolotti Beans (:sigh:) oh how I love thee! So for many years (well maybe my entire life, but who's really counting anyway) my grandmother would always make this delicious meal which has been in my family for years… say like over 100 (crazy I know). Well the story goes something like this.  My great-great grandmother, Nonna, (yes that's right, two greats!) was making this since before my family came to America from Sicily.  As my grandmother accounts, Nonna used to go to the corner market and buy these beans by the bushel basket in order to make enough Pasta e Fagioli for their large family (10 children, mother, father, uncle, grandmother and grandfather) OMG! With no real recipe to be handed down, my grandmother used to watch her Nonna make this, and for years, has been making it for her family from memory. When I asked her to tell me how she makes it (I can't tell you how much I love this) she laughed and said other than her and her Nonna, I am the only other person that will know how to make it… that is until, I tell you all how to make it later on in this post. 

Before we get into it, here's a little ditty about cranberry beans.  Since I adore this meal so much (I think i've said that like 3 times already), I decided to give it a whirl and grow my own cranberry beans in my garden last year, as an experiment.  Let me tell you bob - these things grew like nobody's business! This year I am certainly going to grow them with the intention of making Pasta e Fagioli and succession plant them so that I have a constant supply throughout the summer - if I can manage and don't run out of room, I will plant enough to be able to dry some to get me through the winter months too!

So back to the beans. They are mild tasting and when they are fresh, their pod is green and pink/purple speckles and the bean inside is white with red/purple speckles (you will see in the picture below). You can find them this way at either farmers markets in the summer months, or sometimes find them in your local fruit and veggie store.  I have read, however not seen this with my own eyes, that you can find them dried in certain markets/health food stores, too!

"Thats all I have to say about that" (Forest Gump reference) - let's get cooking'!

You will need:

• 3 lbs fresh cranberry beans in the pod (approximately 4 cups of shelled fresh beans and 2 cups of dried)
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk of celery (not one rib) with a lot of leaves on it
• 2-3 cans of chicken broth (depends on how much evaporates while cooking)
• 1 8oz can of tomato sauce (if you have your own canned from your garden, make sure it is completely smooth, no chunks of tomatoes)
• 1 Box Ditalini pasta (cooked)
• red pepper flakes (to taste)

To make:

Take all 3 lbs of your cranberry beans and give them a good washing while they are in their shell.  If you are using the dried version, soak them overnight to soften them. See how beautiful these pods are?! I just love them!

Now comes the fun part, shelling all of these beans - it sounds like it takes a long time but I had a cup of tea and by the time I was done with my tea, all of my beans were shelled! Make sure to check each bean…throw them out if there are any signs of mold!

Once you get them all shelled, this is what the beautiful beans will look like. Don't be fooled however - they don't stay all speckly and pretty once they are cooked - bummer I know!! Give them a rinse again.  In the picture on the bottom right, I am showing you that out of all of the beans in the shell, I only ended up with 4 cups after I shelled them.

Now, grab your onion and finely chop it.

Next, take your celery and cut off all of the leaves,  pull off the outer ribs of celery and there will be more leaves in the center or heart of the stalk…use those too. Coarsely chop the leaves and save the ribs of celery to make my Super Duper Chicken Souper later on in the week - prep once use twice?! The leaves of the celery add amazing flavor and sacrifice having to chew chunks of celery because that would just be weird in this dish!

Put a little bit of olive oil in a medium sauce pot and get the celery leaves and onions working. Once the onions become transparent, then add the tomato sauce, 1 can of chicken broth, and the beans. I also added about a tbsp of red pepper flakes here because I like mine HOT HOT HOT!  If the group you are feeding isn't into spicy foods, the red pepper flakes could be added to each serving when it's finished.

So now you basically mix it all together, give it a nice big stir, and bring it to a boil. Once its boiling, turn down the heat to a simmer and put a lid on the pot. They key to this recipe is "low and slow".  Keep adding chicken broth so that the beans are always covered with liquid (see the middle picture below). Simmer for two hours and by the end, your Pasta e Fagioli should look like the bottom picture.

Lastly, add the beans to your cooked Ditalini pasta and serve in bowls! Be sure to save a little bit of the pasta cooking water to use if the finished Pasta e Fagioli needs to be loosened a little bit. As you will see below, this is not the typical soupy type of Pasta e Fagioli that many restaurants serve - this is truly what the literal translation of the name says it is "Pasta with Beans" and I promise you… its delish!

And that's all she wrote (not literally, but ya know)! I topped mine with more red pepper (the hotter the better) and thats pretty much it.  It doesn't look like much but trust me, it tastes so good and has a ton of fiber and protein from the beans! Give it a try… I mean, after all - its been in my family for over 100 years and its still a family favorite meal!

Enjoy!

Danielle