Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool)
Italy's poor man's pasta and bean soup the Italian-American way: onion, garlic, oregano and chile in olive oil and butter, hand-crushed tomatoes, broth and red kidney beans, with small pasta cooked right in the pot. Done in 45 minutes.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
Pasta e fagioli, "pasta and beans," was once a dish of the poor in Italy and is now eaten by everyone, a soup with as many versions as regions; it is most often made with cannellini, navy or borlotti (cranberry) beans, and Rome makes a chickpea cousin, pasta e ceci (Wikipedia:). In Naples, cooks have mostly swapped the old lard and pork fat for olive oil (Wikipedia, citing Arthur Schwartz's *Naples at Table*). Italian America gave it a new name. "Pasta fazool" is the Neapolitan pronunciation, and it became a joke and a rhyme in American popular music: Van and Schenck's 1927 novelty song "Pastafazoola" plays on it, and Dean Martin's 1953 hit "That's Amore" rhymes on the dish (Wikipedia). Kenji López-Alt calls his "Pasta Fazool," made with dark red kidney beans, canned tomatoes and chicken broth from the pantry, a 30-minute weeknight soup rather than an all-day pot of dried beans (Serious Eats, January 3, 2012:).
Why it works the kitchen science
Pasta in the soup
Cooking the pasta in the pot instead of separately lets its starch thicken the broth into the creamy body pasta e fagioli is known for.
A fast flavor base
Butter and olive oil with onion, a lot of garlic, oregano and chile, plus pancetta if you have it, give a 30-minute soup the depth of one that simmered all afternoon.
🧰 You'll need 4 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Pans and pots
Tools
Step by step
- Step 1
Pour the tomatoes into a bowl and squeeze each one through your fingers into small pieces (they squirt). Set aside.
- Step 2
Heat the olive oil and butter in a 6- to 7-quart pot over medium-high heat until the butter melts. If using pancetta, add it and stir 2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Step 3
Lower the heat to medium, add the onion, garlic, oregano and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes, until softened but not browned.
- Step 4
Add the tomatoes and their juice, the broth, beans and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, about 8 minutes, then lower to a bare simmer for 20 minutes.
- Step 5
For the last 8 to 10 minutes (check the pasta package), stir in the pasta and keep at a gentle simmer, stirring now and then so it does not stick, until tender.
- Step 6
Season with salt and pepper, discard the bay leaves and stir in the parsley. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and Parmesan.
Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool)
Serves 6 · about 3 quarts · 45 min total
Pot
- 1 can (28 oz) plus 1 can (14.5 oz) whole peeled tomatoes in juice
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter
- 4 oz pancetta or bacon (113 g), finely chopped (optional)
- 1 large onion, finely diced (1 1/2 cups, 225 g)
- 8 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 3/4 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes (1/4 tsp for children)
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 cans (15 oz each) dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 bay leaves
Pasta and finish
- 1 1/2 cups small pasta, such as ditalini, small shells or elbows (170 g)
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 3 tbsp chopped parsley
- Grated Parmesan (optional)
Equipment: Pot, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Mixing bowls
Method
- Pour the tomatoes into a bowl and squeeze each one through your fingers into small pieces (they squirt). Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a 6- to 7-quart pot over medium-high heat until the butter melts. If using pancetta, add it and stir 2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Lower the heat to medium, add the onion, garlic, oregano and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes, until softened but not browned.
- Add the tomatoes and their juice, the broth, beans and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, about 8 minutes, then lower to a bare simmer for 20 minutes.
- For the last 8 to 10 minutes (check the pasta package), stir in the pasta and keep at a gentle simmer, stirring now and then so it does not stick, until tender.
- Season with salt and pepper, discard the bay leaves and stir in the parsley. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and Parmesan.
Adapted from J. Kenji López-Alt, "30-Minute Pasta and Kidney Bean Soup (Pasta Fazool)," Serious Eats (serves 4, about 2 quarts): scaled by one and a half for 6. Method as written, in one pot. Changes: the beans are drained and rinsed (his recipe does not say), and we round 9 cloves of garlic to 8. The pancetta is optional, as in his recipe. Estimated cost: about $15.60 for the pot, about $2.60 a serving. Serious Eats. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Estimated cost: about $2.60 a serving, about $15.60 for the pot; using half water, half broth brings it to about $2.20.
- Meatless: skip the pancetta and use vegetable broth.
- The pasta keeps soaking up broth. Serve it right away, and thin leftovers with water when reheating to a boil.
- For the Italian version, use cannellini or borlotti beans instead of kidney beans.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Pasta e fagioli uses white or cranberry beans. Disputed: Wikipedia says cannellini, navy or borlotti are most common in Italy; Italian-American cooks like Kenji López-Alt use red kidney beans.
- Cook the pasta separately so it does not go mushy. Folklore as a rule: many cooks do it to keep leftovers firm; Kenji López-Alt cooks it in the soup, as here.
- "Pasta fazool" is Neapolitan. Documented as the Neapolitan pronunciation (Wikipedia).
- It was Dean Martin's and Frank Sinatra's favorite meal. Folklore: Wikipedia repeats it from a 2022 Taste of Home article.
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