Pasta e Fagioli alla Veneta (Venetian Bean and Pasta Soup)

La storia di questo piatto

Pasta e fagioli is the Veneto's winter soup, humble and unashamed, a pot where Lamon beans, from the Belluno hills, give their creamy, thin-skinned sweetness to a small mix of ditalini and pennette. Nothing here pretends to be grand: it is the kind of dish that lives in family kitchens, built on onion, carrot, celery and a little lean pancetta.

Ingredienti

• 250 g Dried Lamon beans
• 160 g Mixed pasta (ditalini, pennette)
• 1 piece White onion
• 1 piece Carrot
• 1 stalk Celery
• 100 g Taut pancetta (not smoked)
• 200 ml Peeled tomatoes
• 400 ml Hot vegetable broth (only to top up, if needed)
• 4 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil (2 tablespoons for the soffritto, 2 raw)
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 2 sprig Fresh rosemary (1 sprig for cooking the beans, a few finely chopped needles for the soffritto)
• q.b. to taste Salt and black pepper

Preparazione

1. The evening before, place the Lamon beans in a bowl and cover them with plenty of cold water. Leave them to soak at room temperature for 12 hours: the water will turn cloudy, which is normal. The soaking time is passive, but it is included in the total time indicated (about 14 hours overall, of which about 2 hours of active work). If you are using already cooked beans, skip this step and the next one.
2. Drain and rinse the beans, place them in a large pot and cover with fresh cold water (3 fingers above the level of the beans). Add 1 sprig of rosemary, without salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat and cook for 60-90 minutes, without stirring, until the beans are tender and easily crushed between your fingers (taste one: if needed, continue for up to 2 hours). If the water drops too much, top it up with hot water. Remove the rosemary, drain the beans, reserving at least 600 ml of their cooking water, and salt only at the end.
3. Finely chop the onion, carrot and celery into 3-4 mm cubes: this is the soffritto. Cut the pancetta into cubes of the same size. Crush the garlic with the flat of the knife. Finely chop the needles of a small sprig of fresh rosemary (about 1 teaspoon).
4. In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the pancetta and brown it for about 3 minutes, stirring, until golden at the edges and it has released its fat, without letting it darken.
5. Add the soffritto and the chopped rosemary and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 5-6 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and fragrant (if you smell burning on the bottom, lower the heat). Add the garlic last and cook for 1 more minute, before pouring in the tomatoes.
6. Pour in the peeled tomatoes with their juice, crushing them with the spoon, and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, until they begin to break down.
7. Add the drained beans and about 600 ml of their hot cooking water (top up with hot vegetable broth only if needed, up to 400 ml). Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes, pressing some of the beans against the side of the pot with the spoon to make the soup creamier.
8. Add the pasta to the gently simmering soup and stir immediately. Cook for 8-10 minutes (depending on the shape, ditalini or pennette), stirring every 2-3 minutes and adding a ladle of hot liquid if it becomes too dry. The pasta should remain al dente and the soup thick and creamy, not watery.
9. Turn off the heat, taste and adjust the salt, then add freshly ground black pepper. Let it rest for 5 minutes: the soup thickens and the flavours blend.
10. Serve the soup hot or just warm, as tradition in the Veneto dictates, in deep bowls. Finish each portion with half a tablespoon of raw extra virgin olive oil (the remaining 2 tablespoons, divided among the 4 portions) and, if you like, serve with toasted bread.