you're making mealtime meaningful.
I came across this recipe on reddit and thought it would be a great share. Dean Martin’s Grandma Angela has a recipe for pasta fagioli. Growing up my whole family adored Dean Martin and yet we never heard of this soup recipe. It reminds me of a recipe that my great grandma would make where the recipes were just simpler back then. They use less than 10 ingredients and so cleverly use up cheap, shelf-stable ingredients to make the most flavorful dish they can. Grandma Angela’s soup is simple, flavorful, and very satisfying. The brilliance of this recipe is how satisfying it is. Her secret ingredient is a little pinch of cinnamon on top to bring out some of the subtlety of this soup. Caramelize your onions, add your beans, cook your pasta, and flavor with cinnamon and cheese. Easy enough.
Like any good soup, we start with caramelizing onions. The slower you take this process the more sweetness you render from the onion. This soup can be made low and slow or quick and fast. After the vegetables are cooked, the rest of the soup is a breeze. If you plan on making extra broth, be sure to reserve half in the freezer before you add the ditalini pasta. Reheating pasta from frozen in soup doesn’t work as well as it should.
Old school recipes like these are what I crave when I’m making lunch. These simple 6 ingredients make up one hearty soup. Who says you need all the additional vegetables, fresh herbs, and fancy cheeses. Will the soup taste better with those things? Of course they will, BUT you it defeats this soups purpose. It’s worth it because how quick it takes to prep and cook the soup with simple ingredients you have in your house.
This soup makes for a perfect addition to soup season with it’s cheap cost, easy execution and maximum satisfaction. The beans add a hearty creaminess with a spring of cooked pasta. I feel like a kid with every spoonful.
Dean Martin's Pasta Fagioli
Yield(s): Serves 4
10m prep time
15m cook time
Diet: Low-Fat, Low-Calorie
you're making mealtime meaningful.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 - 15 oz. cans cannellini beans, drained
- 6 cups water
- 8 oz. ditalini pasta
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, cook onion and olive oil until the onion starts to turn golden.
- Add beans and lightly mash half of the beans with a potato masher.
- Add water and ditalini pasta, then season with salt, pepper, and cinnamon. If you have a parmesan rind, add that to the broth for extra flavor. Bring mixture to a gentle boil and let the pasta fully cook.
- Remove from the heat and grate in fresh parmesan cheese and olive oil.