Pasta e Fagioli alla Napoletana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 6-quart Dutch oven or soup pot
• •Large pot for cooking beans
• •Food mill or potato masher

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the beans

   Drain the soaked beans and place them in a large pot. Cover with fresh cold water by three inches. Do not add salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then reduce to the lowest setting. Cook until the beans are tender but not falling apart, 45 minutes to one hour depending on age. The skins should remain intact, the interior creamy. Drain the beans, reserving two cups of the cooking liquid.

   Old beans take longer to cook and may never soften completely. Buy beans from a source with good turnover. The bag should not be dusty.
2. 2

   Render the pancetta

   In a heavy pot, combine the olive oil and diced pancetta. Set over medium-low heat and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until the pancetta has rendered its fat and the edges are golden and beginning to crisp, about 10 minutes. The fat should be fragrant. This is your foundation.

3. 3

   Build the soffritto

   Add the onion, celery, and carrot to the rendered pancetta. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are completely soft and the onion has turned golden at the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the crushed garlic cloves and the rosemary sprig. Cook one minute more, until the garlic is fragrant. The garlic should not brown. Remove and discard the garlic cloves.

   I remove the garlic because I want its perfume, not its presence. The unbalanced use of garlic is the single greatest cause of failure in would-be Italian cooking. Here, a whisper is enough.
4. 4

   Add tomatoes and broth

   Add the crushed tomatoes and stir well, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let the tomatoes cook for five minutes until they lose their raw edge. Add the chicken broth, the Parmigiano rind, and half of the cooked beans. Bring to a simmer.

5. 5

   Create the cream

   Take the remaining half of the beans and pass them through a food mill or mash them thoroughly with a fork. You want a rough puree, not a smooth one. Stir this into the simmering soup. The puree will thicken the broth and give it body. Let the soup simmer gently for 30 minutes, partially covered. The flavors must marry.

   The division of beans, half whole and half pureed, creates the proper texture. You taste distinct beans while the broth has substance. This is not negotiable.
6. 6

   Cook the pasta

   Add the pasta directly to the soup. This is important. The pasta cooks in the soup, releasing starch that further thickens the broth. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. Cook until the pasta is tender but retains some bite, 10 to 15 minutes depending on shape. The soup will thicken considerably. Add reserved bean cooking liquid or additional broth if it becomes too thick. Season with salt and pepper.

   Neapolitan pasta e fagioli should be loose enough to eat with a spoon, not so thick you need a fork. If your soup resembles cement, you have gone too far. Add more liquid.
7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Remove the pot from the heat. Fish out and discard the rosemary sprig and cheese rind. Let the soup rest for 10 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it sits. Ladle into warm bowls, drizzle generously with your best olive oil, and pass Pecorino Romano at the table. The olive oil is not a garnish. It is an ingredient. Do not skip it.

Chef Tips

• •Pasta mista, the broken mixed pasta of Naples, creates the authentic texture. If unavailable, use ditalini or tubettini. Spaghetti broken into pieces is acceptable, though not traditional.
• •The soup thickens as it sits. Leftover soup will be quite dense the next day. Thin with broth or water when reheating. This is expected and correct.
• •A ham bone or prosciutto end substitutes for pancetta admirably. The bone simmers with the broth, removed before serving. Save your prosciutto ends in the freezer for this purpose.
• •Chicken broth is traditional in Naples. Vegetable broth works if you must, but you sacrifice depth. Water works only if you increase the pancetta and add a Parmigiano rind. Something must provide the savory foundation.

Advance Preparation

• •Beans can be cooked two days ahead and refrigerated in their cooking liquid.
• •The soup base, through step 5, can be made a day ahead. Add pasta only when reheating to serve, as it will absorb all liquid if left overnight.
• •Completed soup keeps three days refrigerated. The pasta will soften and the soup will thicken. Some prefer it this way. Add liquid and adjust seasoning when reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 530g)