The perfect pasta e fagioli is not a winter dish, but a summer dish. Because the borlotti beans are fresh and harvested between July and October. You can also use dry beans soaked in water, or canned beans, but you can taste the difference. After all, pasta e fagioli is truly an art form – a classic of Italian cuisine and a traditional peasant recipe that unites the regions, from North to South. It must be dense and substantial – so much so that a spoon can stand up in the middle. One of the historic places that still makes it like this is Trattoria Masuelli in Milan, which has been run by the Masuelli family since 1921 and is now in its third generation. Trattoria Masuelli is a historic venue in Italy – one of the restaurants that comprises the “Unione dei Ristoranti del Buon Ricordo,” where the recipe requires that the consistency is thick enough to be served “with a standing spoon.”
The flavor for this rustic pasta e fagioli recipe results from using only the best ingredients and a couple of tricks: Blend only half of the mixture for a creamy soup with whole beans. Cook the pasta separately and add it to the beans to maintain the recipe’s characteristic dense consistency.
The Recipe: Pasta e Fagioli by Trattoria Masuelli
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 onion, 2 celery ribs, 1 bunch of basil, 2 carrots, 5 potatoes, 1 lb fresh borlotti beans, ½ cup tomato purée, 7 oz maltagliati (fresh pasta)
Method:
Clean and chop the celery, carrots and onion. Sauté them in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the beans, followed by the tomato purée. If necessary, add a ladleful of vegetable stock and cover with a lid. Add the coarsely chopped potatoes and cook for at least a couple of hours.
Once the beans are cooked, blend half of the mixture in a blender. Add the whole beans and set aside. Add basil leaves, salt and pepper to taste.
Cook the pasta separately. Halfway through cooking, add it to the bean purée.