Tuscan Pasta E Fagioli
By: Erin Sizemore
Published: Monday, December 28, 2009 - 12:00pm

Ingredients




1 tablespoon butter
1/10 pound pancetta
2 smalls onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flake to taste
2 sprigs rosemary
 bottle white wine
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup ditallini pasta

Preparation

1 Heat the butter over medium heat in a stock pot until melted 2 Add the pancetta and cook until the fat has rendered and its a bit crispy 3 Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions get a little translucent, and add salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flake to taste 4 Pour in the wine, add the rosemary, and simmer for about 10 minutes 5 Add the beans and chicken stock, and simmer for 30 minutes 6 Remove from heat. Remove the rosemary sprigs and blend with a stick blender until smooth 7 Return to medium heat, add the ditallini and cook for 6-7 minutes until pasta is al dente

About


I spent Christmas this year at my new in-laws house celebrating with some lovely Swiss traditions, but realized once I got home that I missed some of the Italian traditions that I'm used to from growing up in Little Italy (aka Westerly, Rhode Island). I decided today was the perfect day for some pasta e fagioli. This soup is actually inspired by a pasta e fagioli I had in Greve in Chianti on my honeymoon, a meal I proclaim was the best meal I've ever had. I also decided that today was also the perfect day to document the soup in pictures ala Carla Jeffries' fantastic blog (see link list to the right and click on the 'il piatto blu' link) and because said wonderful in-laws bought me and Brian an awesome camera and we're quite the shutter bugs these days. Kindly do not judge the mess that is my kitchen, Brian and I are starting to remodel it next week and we've pretty much mailed it in with keeping it clean. Now to the soup . . .