Pasta e Fagioli

It’s time to celebrate everything pasta! Why? Because today, October 25th, is World Pasta Day. On behalf of Barilla, I invite you to join me in enjoying delicious pasta recipes made with Barilla products. I’ve got one yummy recipe to share with you today that I think you will love. My family gobbled it up in record time.

One thing I love about using Barilla pasta in my recipes is that I can always count on top notch quality and delivering consistent, fabulous results. This Pasta e Fagioli recipe was no different. It tasted delicious and was super easy to make. It’s one of the many pasta recipes Barilla shared with me.

You’ll need your choice of Barilla Pasta (I used Ditali), olive oil, garlic, red onion, pancetta, kidney beans, tomato sauce and cheese.

The Barilla recipe also suggested borlotti instead of kidney beans and Parmigiano cheese. I used Asiago cheese because our store was out of Parmigiano. You sprinkle the cheese at the end.

The Barilla recipe had a few tips and terms that were new to me. Have you ever made a soffritto? You will in this recipe. It involves heating a pan with olive oil and gently sautéing the garlic, red onion and pancetta to flavour the olive oil.

Another cool thing about this recipe is that it’s one pot. The pasta cooks right along with the beans and the rest of the ingredients. One of the benefits of using the same pot is that starches released from the pasta will make the recipe creamy.

Yield: 6

Pasta e Fagioli

Hearty and filling! This creamy pasta with beans will practically melt in your mouth.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Barilla Pasta
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 3/4 cup pancetta, cubed
• 2 cups kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup Asiago cheese, shredded
• salt and pepper
• Parsley, for garnish, if desired

Directions:

1. Add olive oil to a large pan on medium heat. Stir in garlic, red onion and pancetta and cook for about 5 minutes, until onion is softened.
2. Stir in kidney beans and tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add pasta and water to the pot and stir. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer an additional 10 to 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Add more water if you find it’s evaporating too quickly.
4. Remove from heat and stir in Asiago cheese. Let it sit to cool down. When ready to serve, top with more Asiago cheese and parsley, if desired.

I also didn’t realize is that you are not supposed to serve it piping hot. Let it cool to room temperature first so that the flavours have a chance to mingle and settle in.

It tasted amazing! It was hearty and filling. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the beans were creamy and practically melted in my mouth. This was my first time making Pasta e Fagioli (translates to Pasta with Beans) and I’ll definitely be making it again.

Get together with your friends and family and enjoy a delicious pasta dish today! Maybe try this recipe? If you do, I’d love to hear how it turned out.

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Disclosure: I was compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.