Pasta e Fagioli

Pasta e Fagioli: Step by Step

Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.

1. Drain the soaked beans, cover with fresh water, and simmer 60 to 75 minutes until tender. Keep them in their liquid.

   Mark done Start 60 min timer

2. While the beans simmer, fry the pancetta (if using) in the olive oil in a large pot for 5 minutes, then add the onion, carrot and celery and cook 12 minutes until soft.

   Mark done Start 5 min timer

3. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the tomato purée and cook 2 minutes.

   Mark done Start 1 min timer

4. Add the beans with their cooking liquid, the Parmesan rind, rosemary and bay, then enough of the water or stock to bring the liquid up to 1.5 litres.

   Mark done

5. Simmer 20 minutes, then lift out a ladleful of beans, blend them smooth, and stir the purée back in.

   Mark done

6. Add the salt, bring to a steady simmer, and tip in the pasta.

   Mark done

7. Cook the pasta in the soup for the time on its packet, stirring often, since the soup thickens fast and will catch if left alone. Start tasting 2 minutes before the packet time: it is ready when tender with a slight bite at the centre.

   Mark done

8. Fish out the rind, rosemary stalks and bay. Rest 10 minutes off the heat so it thickens properly.

   Mark done

9. Serve with a heavy slick of olive oil, plenty of black pepper and grated Parmesan.

   Mark done

Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Ingredient substitutions.

Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.

What Can Go Wrong

1. Keep the Parmesan rind in a bag in the freezer. It is the single best thing you can add to a bean soup.
2. The soup should be thick enough that a spoon stands up briefly. Loosen with hot water if it goes past that.
3. Cook the pasta in the soup, not in a separate pan. That starch is the recipe.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

The Short Version

Cooking the pasta directly in the bean broth rather than separately is the whole point: the starch it sheds is what thickens the liquid, and draining it away leaves a thin, disappointing soup. Blending a ladleful of beans adds body without cream.

What to Serve It With

A rough Tuscan red · Crusty bread · A green salad afterwards

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Ciabatta, Citrus Fennel Salad, Garlic Confit Focaccia.

Storing Leftovers

Refrigerate 3 days. The pasta swells overnight, so loosen generously with water when reheating.

Common Questions

The Numbers per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

Vegetarian when made without the pancetta and made with a hard cheese made without animal rennet in place of the parmesan.

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

Your own rating out of 5

5 stars★ 4 stars★ 3 stars★ 2 stars★ 1 star★

Your note

Save note

Private to you: notes and ratings are saved in this browser only, are never sent anywhere, and other readers cannot see them.