Pasta con i fagioli (white bean and noodle soup)

4 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
¾ pounds Dried white beans
¾ pounds Fresh pork belly with skin
1 Onion; finely chopped
1 Carrot; finely chopped
1 Celery stalk; finely chopped
1 Garlic clove; finely chopped
3 Parsley sprigs; finely ch.
1 Sage sprig; finely chopped
1 Bay leaf
Salt
8 ounces Spaghetti or ribbon noodles
2 tablespoons Fruity olive oil
Black pepper; freshly ground

Directions

Soak the beans overnight. Drain the beans and put them in a pan with the pork, the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, sage and bay leaf and water to cover. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer gently for 2 hours, or until the beans are soft.

Puree 1 cup of beans, then stir the puree back into the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper and bring to the boil again. Add the spaghetti or ribbon noodles and boil for about 12 minutes, or until they are cooked through, but are still firm to the bite. Remove the piece of pork belly and cut it into thin strips. Just before serving, dribble the olive oil into the soup and add with a grinding of black pepper. Serve the soup warm rather than hot, accompanied by the strips of pork on a separate plate.

This is a hearty, cold-weather peasant soup from the Veneto and Friuli, where it is called "pasta e fasioi".

Source: Jane Grigson (ed.): The World Atlas of Food. A Gourmet's Guide to the Great Regional Dishes of the World. Mitchell Beazley Publishers 1974. This edition: Spring Books, London 1988. ISBN 0 600 55929 7. Typed by Heiko Ebeling.

Submitted By HEIKO EBELING On 06-05-95

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