12-23…PASTA FAGIOLI

If you look in Italian cookbooks you will find that pasta fagioli (pasta and beans) is usually presented as a soup, with a tomato based broth. My mom would make it with a thicker tomato sauce, and for a long time I would do the same. I have since learned that there are any number of ways to combine pasta and beans, and here is one of them



INGREDIENTS:

Fettuccini
Navy beans
Olive oil
Garlic and onions
Bacon, chopped
Dry basil and oregano
Parmigiano reggiano cheese

PROCESS:

Cook the bacon, remove to drain, and pour off the bacon fat. Add olive oil to the pan and sauté the garlic and onion until soft. Add the beans, herbs and seasoning, and simmer over low heat while the pasta cooks.

Add the pasta and bacon to the sauce and mix well. Serve with the PR cheese.

As always, save some pasta water to add to the sauce if you think it is too thick.

COMMENTS:

I am not going to call this a 50. I have learned to curb my enthusiasm. But it most certainly is a 10 (on a scale of 1-3).

In the future I will present more variations of this dish.