An Italian style creamy bean and pasta soup with plenty of vegetables!
Pasta e fagioli soup is an Italian pasta and bean soup that is one of my favourites! Typically I make it with a tomato based broth, like that recipe has, but it’s also nice without tomatoes, like in this white pasta e fagioli. This version is pretty similar, just with no tomatoes. It starts out with some pancetta, followed by onion, celery, carrots, garlic, rosemary, and thyme before adding the pasta, beans and broth and cooking until the pasta is cooked. I like to puree some of the beans to make the broth nice and creamy, without having to add actual cream. The soup is finished off with plenty of parmesan cheese which is melted into the broth.
White Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Servings: 6
An Italian style creamy bean and pasta soup with plenty of vegetables!
ingredients
- 4 ounces pancetta, diced (optional) *
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 teaspoons rosemary, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 2 teaspoons thyme, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 6 cups chicken broth (link) (or beef broth, or ham broth, or vegetable broth)
- 3 (14.5 ounce) cans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 cup ditalini pasta (gluten-free for gluten-free)
- 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan cheese), grated
- salt and pepper to taste
directions
- Cook the pancetta, over medium heat, until crispy in a large saucepan, before setting aside and retaining the grease in the pan.
- Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook, over medium-high heat, in the reserved pancetta grease until tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, rosemary, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add 5 cups of broth (reserving 1 cup), 2 cans of beans (reserving 1 can), oregano, and pasta and start bringing it to a boil.
- Puree the reserved 1 can of beans in the reserved 1 cup of broth and add to the soup.
- Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the pasta is cooked, about 8 minutes, before turning off the heat.
- Add the cooked pancetta and parmesan, and let the cheese melt.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!
Option: * Omit the pancetta and use 1 tablespoon of olive oil for a vegetarian version!
Option: Replace the pancetta with bacon, or italian sausage, or ham, etc.
Option: Drain the grease from the pancetta and use olive oil to cook the veggies in.
Option: Use dried beans instead of canned beans. Soak and cook 1 pound of dried beans!
Option: Replace the parmesan with pecorino or asiago, etc.
Option: Add 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced.
Option: Add 5 ounces of baby spinach, at the end, mix it in and let it wilt before serving.
Option: Add 1/2 cup heavy/whipping cream.
