Author Notes
Little Italy in the Bronx is my original source for pasta fagioli. I wanted to make my own at home and tried many different recipes and tried to recreate variations I had tasted on Arthur Avenue. This recipe is infinitely resilient. You can use different vegetables, different seasoning meats, and make it vegetarian or not. —luvcookbooks
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Ingredients
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3 tablespoons
olive oil
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4 ounces
spice rubbed pancetta
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1
onion, chopped
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2
garlic cloves, chopped
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1
carrot, sliced
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1 cup
shell beans, shelled
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1 cup
yellow wax beans, chopped
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1
28 ounce can cannellini beans
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1 quart
low sodium chicken broth
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1 bunch
dandelion greens, carefully washed and torn
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8 ounces
ditalini or other small pasta
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Parmesan cheese, grated
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olive oil for the table
Directions
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Cut pancetta into 3/4 inch cubes and heat gently in olive oil until slightly crisp.
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Stir in the onion and saute until soft but not colored. Add garlic, carrot, shell beans, and yellow wax beans and stir to coat.
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Add chicken stock and dandelion greens and bring to a boil. Add cannellini beans and simmer for about 25 minutes, until vegetables are tender but not mushy.
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Smash some of the beans against the side of the soup pot with a wooden spoon. This adds great body to the soup.
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Just before you are ready to serve the soup, stir in the pasta and cook until just done. Stir in a handful of Parmesan cheese, then serve more Parmesan and extra virgin olive oil to add at the table.
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