This Italian pasta e fagioli recipe, also known as pasta fazool or pasta with beans, is one of the best comforting 1-pot family meals. It's budget-friendly, nourishing, and totally delicious.Recipe yields 4 servings (1 ½ cup each)
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time35 minutesmins
Total Time40 minutesmins
Course: pasta, stew
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: pasta fagioli recipe, pasta fazool
Servings: 4
Calories: 440kcal
Author: Katia
Ingredients
1 ½tablespoonolive oil or extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
7 oz(190-200 grams)Pasta, short pasta (ditali, orecchiette, shells...)
½teaspoonfine salt, or to taste
⅛teaspoonblack pepper, or to taste
Instructions
In a large heavy soup pot or dutch oven, warm the olive oil over medium heart until shimmering. Add the diced onion, carrot, celery, and cook stirring often until the vegetables have softened. It takes about 10 minutes.
Add the garlic, herbs, and cook for about 30-40 seconds until fragrant.
Add the beans, tomatoes, 3 cups of the broth (reserve the rest), salt, pepper (½ tsp of salt when using low sodium vegetable broth, see notes below) and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf and rosemary. Scoop out about ⅓ of the soup, blitz in a blender until smooth, and return it to the pot (be careful, it's still hot). Alternatively, use an immersion blender and partially blitz the soup in the pot.
Bring to a gentle simmer and stir in the pasta. Cook gently, stirring frequently, and add the rest of the reserved broth gradually when needed. The soup should be creamy, thick, but not dry otherwise the pasta might stick to the bottom of the pot. Keep an eye during the cooking time and add the rest of the broth as needed.
Cook until al dente, taste and adjust the seasoning and the consistency to your liking. Feel free to add a touch of water if you prefer a thinner consistency.
Ladle the pasta with beans into bowls and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and top with black pepper or red pepper flakes. Fresh chopped Italian parsley is another delicious addition if you like. Enjoy!
Notes
Salt: keep in mind that some vegetable or chicken broths taste quite salty. It's important to adjust the seasoning at the end and not at the beginning as you never really know how strong the salt from the broth is. If you use water or low sodium vegetable broth, you can add ½ level tsp of salt as per the recipe and then adjust the seasoning at the end if needed.Beans: traditionally, this Italian pasta e fagioli calls for borlotti beans, also known as cranberry beans. You can also use cannellini beans or even pinto beans, but borlotti (cranberry beans) will give you a creamier texture. Red kidney beans are not my fav option for this recipe, but you can use them if you wish.Tomatoes: you can substitute canned tomatoes with the same amount of diced fresh tomatoes or tomato passata. Note: pasta with beans is best served immediately; as it sits, the pasta soaks up the liquid. If the soup gets too thick, you can thin it with a bit of broth or wateNutrition facts: the nutrition values are for one portion and are based on an online nutrition calculator. It’s an estimate only and it should not be considered as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. Please see my disclosure policies.