pasta and bean soup with sausage

pasta e fagioli

TOTAL TIME: 2 hours plus soaking

MAKES: 4 to 6 servings

The perfect soup for a cold night, the beans get cooked with whole head of garlic; the addition of both pancetta and sausage make this version extra hearty.

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Ingredients

6 ounces dried cannellini beans (1 cup)
1 whole head garlic plus 1 garlic clove
2 sprigs fresh thyme, rosemary or sage
7 ounces thick-cut pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 1/2 ounces sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
4 cups vegetable broth
8 ounces ditaloni rigati
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Rinse beans, then place with head of garlic and herb sprigs in a large saucepan and cover with water by 3 inches. Soak for 8 hours, or overnight.

Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a low boil; reduce to a gentle simmer and cook, adding water as necessary to keep level 2 to 3 inches above beans, until beans are tender, about 45 minutes or more (cooking time varies depending on age of beans).

Reserving cooking liquid, drain beans through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; discard garlic and herb sprigs. Separately, set aside beans and their liquid.

Finely chop remaining garlic clove. In a large heavy pot with lid or Dutch oven, combine pancetta and sausage; heat over medium-high heat, stirring frequently and breaking up sausage into bits with a wooden spoon, until fat is rendered and sausage is cooked through, about 7 minutes. Add onion and oil, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Add reserved beans, 2 cups bean cooking liquid, broth and 2 1/4 cups water; bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 25 minutes.

Increase heat to bring soup to a low boil; add pasta and cook until pasta is just al dente (pasta will continue to cook in soup; do not overcook). Season with salt and pepper to taste (soup can be thinned, if desired, using remaining bean cooking liquid). Ladle soup into serving bowls; sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with oil.

December 2010

keywords:

fagioli, fazool, soup

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Comments [10] | Add your comment

made this tonight for two sick roommates and they were cured by the second bite. Substituted a can of beans instead of dried (so don't use a whole head of garlic) and hot Italian sausage to clear their sinuses. Fast, easy, inexpensive--definitely a hit. I'll make it again next week!

Update Jan 27, 2013: It was so good we made it again tonight!

Posted: January 25, 2013 01:23 by SBaumanSF
Mamma Mia! Soup with pasta and an entire head of garlic! My ideaof heaven!

Posted: February 17, 2012 14:39 by PastaLover
Just what I needed to get me out of a slump. The sausage and the pancetta added that hardy and robust body and flavor to a traditional bean soup. A nice assembly of ingredients that can be found in the kitchen. Comfort. cozy. Lunch or Dinner.

Posted: October 30, 2011 13:25 by blacksheep
sbkelley - how long in the crock pot?
Posted: February 22, 2011 13:52 by DGZS3759
It's not the typical Pasta e Fagioli we make from So. Italy..Sicilian. It is an excellent version. Sausage e Pancetta, how bad can it be? I made it twice. :-) Once with a containered vegetable broth the other with the bean vegetable broth. The first time it wasn't readily apparent that the vegetable broth the recipe called for was the bean liquid. Both were excellent and a little different. Hardier with the containered vegetable broth.
Posted: February 12, 2011 15:44 by rpparisi
Leave the head of garlic whole, uncut, and unpeeled; this is an easy way to add flavor to the beans and you get more flavor from it than you might think but without overpowering. Indeed, Italian cooks will often use garlic less aggressively than American cooks (ie: they will put a peeled or unpeeled clove into a sauce, then remove it--using it to season--as opposed to chopping the garlic and putting it into the sauce, chopped). Enjoy the soup!
Posted: January 22, 2011 10:23 by joannesmart
Do I soak the garlic in its skin, or do I peel the individual pieces?
Posted: January 20, 2011 21:33 by minercg
this is a great recipe for the crock pot. i just add the noodles when i get home and an hour later perfect bean soup for dinner.
Posted: January 04, 2011 12:53 by sbkelley
this is the best fazool i have ever used instead of using the bean broth as is i reduced it to the amount necessary. after it sits for a day it is amazing thankyou
Posted: December 14, 2010 16:48 by penorcas
Very tasty!
Posted: December 05, 2010 12:37 by dtbradley