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Pasta e Fagioli Napoletana
Created by Chef Graziella
The great bean soup of Naples, where humble cannellini and short pasta become something that warms you from the inside out. This is poverty cooking that proves restraint creates depth.
Pasta e fagioli is not a recipe. It is a survival strategy that became art. Neapolitan families have made this for centuries, stretching dried beans and a handful of pasta into meals that fed entire households. The genius is in the technique: you cook the pasta directly in the bean broth, so the starch thickens everything into something between soup and stew.
Americans often make this too thin, too brothy, with pasta cooked separately and added at the end. This is not pasta e fagioli. The pasta must surrender some of its starch to the broth. The beans must break down slightly at the edges. The whole pot should be creamy without a drop of cream.
The pancetta is not optional, but it is restrained. A few ounces. Enough to build a foundation of flavor, not enough to make this a meat dish. The tomato is similarly restrained: enough to give color and brightness, not enough to make this a tomato soup. What you keep out is as significant as what you put in.
Ingredients
dried cannellini beans
Quantity
1 pound
soaked overnight and drained
pancetta
Quantity
3 ounces
diced into small cubes
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons, plus more for finishing
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried cannellini beanssoaked overnight and drained | 1 pound |
| pancettadiced into small cubes | 3 ounces |
| extra virgin olive oil | 3 tablespoons, plus more for finishing |
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