Mom’s Pasta e Fagioli (Mom’s Pasta and Beans)
Follow the directions for Cannelini alla Toscana but use dried lima beans instead of cannellini and substitute ½ teaspoon of dried oregano and a sprig of fresh rosemary for the sage. There will be leftover beans that you can freeze or refrigerate for another use. You can also use two 15 ounce cans of Butter Beans in place of the home-cooked lima beans. Mom always used ditalini for this dish. These days, when you can find them (and it can be challenging) they have usually been upgraded from ditalini to ditali, though they are exactly what she used. More frequently, I use a slightly larger, but still rather small, pasta such as the mezzi rigatoni shown here.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 6people | 15minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 1 1/2hours |
|
|
Ingredients
- 3cups cooked dried lima beansplus bean-cooking liquid to cover
- 1/3medium onion
- 1/2cup extra virgin olive oildivided
- 1/2teaspoon crushed red pepperor to taste
- 1 x 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 3cups water
- 1/4teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/3teaspoon dried basil
- saltto taste
- Freshly ground black pepperto taste
- 4cloves garlic
- 1pound short, fat tubular pastasuch as ditali or mezzi rigatoni
- 3tablespoons saltfor cooking the pasta
- 1/3cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheesefreshly grated
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion. Sauté the onion in ¼ cup of olive oil until soft and golden.
- Add the crushed red pepper and sauté another minute.
- Add the tomato paste and sauté, stirring frequently until the tomato paste turns a shade darker and smells sweet, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the water, oregano, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well to fully incorporate the tomato paste.
- Bring to a very low boil, partially covered, and cook 30-45 minutes stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning as needed, tasting several times as the sauce cooks.
- Meanwhile, sauté the garlic in the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil very slowly until browned. Remove from the heat and reserve.
- The dish can be cooked several hours ahead to this point.
- Bring three quarts of water and three tablespoons of salt to a boil.
- While the water is heating, add the beans and their liquid to the tomato sauce, return to a simmer, and cook, partially covered till the pasta is ready.
- Cook pasta until it still has a small bit of chewy center. It will cook more in the sauce. Scoop out and reserve two cups of the pasta cooking liquid.
- Drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the tomato-bean mixture. Add the browned garlic and olive oil. Stir well, cover and cook on very low heat until the pasta is cooked but al dente and the sauce has thickened. Add some of the pasta cooking liquid as needed from time to time to create a smooth sauce.
- Off the heat stir in the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- It is not unheard of for me to add an extra glug or two of olive oil at this point to get a luscious sauce. Stir and decide if another dash of pasta-cooking water is needed, as well.
Recipe Notes
Mezzi Rigatoni
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