Pasta Fazool - give it a try


 
John K BBQ

John K BBQ

TVWBB All-Star
The weather in St. Louis is touch and go, and was supposed to rain yesterday, so we decided to cook inside. I saw a guy make this on youtube, and it looked good so we gave it a whirl. We followed this recipe really closely, but used bacon instead of pancetta, and omitted the basil at the end. This will be going into the winter food rotation since everyone enjoyed it so much. If you follow the recipe closely, the end result is not very soupy, especially after you add the cheese. If you want it soupy, you'll need to add a bit more water or stock.

I didn't take any photos this time, but the recipe has some pics. Trust me when I say Foodnetwork has better photographers than I do 🤣

Here's a link to the recipe in case you want to try it.

Food Network - Pasta Fazool Recipe
 
A former work colleague from a job in the past often talked about this dish. He was Italian originally from St. Louis & he referred to it as “Poor Man’s pasta." Ditalini pasta is the base ingredient.
 
Yep - it's cheap to make, and pretty tasty. Bacon (or Pancetta), onions, garlic a little red pepper flake, beans, pasta and a little crushed tomatoes. Pancetta can be expensive unless you know where to buy it at a reasonable price. There are places around St. Louis where you can pay < $20/lb for it, but I wasn't able to get to any of those places yesterday, so I used regular bacon and it turned out nicely. I think Ditalini is the "correct" pasta for the dish, but any pasta that cooks up about the same size or smaller than a cannellini bean works too.
 
It's classic Italian comfort food with many variations, but the base is beans and pasta. It's called a soup though it's really more of a stew.
I've never added basil nor blended half the ingredients.
 
Traditionally, when the beans become soft, you press them with a wooden spoon against the side of the pot to squish them. This thickens up the soup, but still keeps the beans in a mostly beans texture, not a puree.

I say "traditionally" as a first generation american who has been eating Pasta Fagioli monthly for the last 35years lol.
 
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