4.67 from 3 votes

Pasta e Fagioli

You’ll love this classic Italian soup recipe that’s ready and on the dinner table in a half hour! Hearty and filling, made with the best beans and pasta, this Pasta e Fagioli is just what you need during the chilly soup season. 

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


It’s time to celebrate everything pasta! Why? Because today, October 25th, is World Pasta Day. 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.

This recipe was inspired by the Barilla recipe and I made some tweaks based on what I had available and what we enjoyed. 

Another cool thing about this recipe is that it’s all made in 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.

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    We are all about belly-warming soups in our house, especially when we have so much cold weather. Another well-loved Italian soup is our homemade Minestrone Soup recipe. 

    Pasta e Fagioli - This classic Italian noodle soup is so hearty and comforting! Pancetta and kidney beans mixed with fun round noodles and Asiago cheese.

    Why You’ll Love This Soup Recipe

    • This recipe makes 5 generous soup portions
    • It’s easy to scale to make more servings or to make more to have leftovers
    • It’s made with only pantry staple ingredients- nothing crazy needed
    • Super quick dinner, no need to slave over the stove all day
    • Perfect freezer meal soup to have on hand

    Ingredients Needed

    • Pasta
    • Extra virgin olive oil
    • Cloves garlic
    • Small red onion
    • Pancetta
    • Kidney beans
    • Tomato sauce
    • Water
    • Asiago cheese
    • Salt and pepper
    • Parsley
    Pasta e Fagioli - This classic Italian noodle soup is so hearty and comforting! Pancetta and kidney beans mixed with fun round noodles and Asiago cheese.

    How to Make Pasta e Fagioli

    • Step One: 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.
    • Step Two: Stir in kidney beans and tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
    • Step Three: 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.
    • Step Four: 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.

    Helpful Kitchen Equipment Needed

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    Pasta e Fagioli - This classic Italian noodle soup is so hearty and comforting! Pancetta and kidney beans mixed with fun round noodles and Asiago cheese.

    What to Serve with Soup

    Helpful Tips and Tricks

    One thing I learned from making this traditional Italian soup 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 before serving and enjoying.

    Pasta e Fagioli - This classic Italian noodle soup is so hearty and comforting! Pancetta and kidney beans mixed with fun round noodles and Asiago cheese.

    Recipe Variations and Substitutions

    • I used Asiago cheese because our store was out of Parmigiano cheese. You can swap out the cheese that you use for garnishes, make a combo of cheese options, or even omit the cheese altogether. 
    • I chose to use Diatli for my soup pasta. However, you can use whatever shaped small pasta you prefer. You could even serve this with rice or orzo if you’re in a punch.

    Leftover Storage

    Any leftover soup should be transferred to an airtight container once it has cooled completely. The leftovers should be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. 

    However, you should know that the pasta will start breaking down the longer it is in the soup. The faster you can enjoy leftovers, the less messy they’ll be. 

    Reheat leftover soup in a pot on the stove, or reheat single servings in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave. 

    Can I Freeze This?

    Be very careful if you choose to freeze any leftover Pasta e Fagioli. Since we make the pasta in the soup as the whole thing cooks, it can make freezing it more difficult. 

    Similar to storing the pasta in the refrigerator, the pasta will start to break  down and become mushy and messy over time. It also starts to change texture when it thaws and then really makes a mess or breaks up into chunks when you go to reheat it. 

    If you know you plan on making this soup to freeze it, I would suggest making the pasta separately to help avoid this problem, and then serve pasta on individual servings that you serve now and plan to make fresh pasta for later when you thaw and reheat the soup again.

    Pasta e Fagioli - This classic Italian noodle soup is so hearty and comforting! Pancetta and kidney beans mixed with fun round noodles and Asiago cheese.

    What is Soffritto?

    Soffritto is a cooking term to describe using a pan to heat the olive oil and then gently sautéing the garlic, red onion, and pancetta to not just cook them for the sauce, but to flavour the olive oil.

    What is Pasta e Fagioli?

    Pasta e Fagioli literally translates to Pasta with Beans. It can also be pronounced as Pasta Fasul or Pasta Fazool. It is just a hearty soup usually made with vegetables, beans, and pasta. 

    Did you know that this dish was actually made for the peasants and the lower class in Italy? They wanted to make a dish that was filling and used inexpensive ingredients that lower class peasants could enjoy.

    Is Pasta Fagioli the same as Minestrone?

    Pasta Fagioli and Minestrone are similar Italian soups. They’re both made with vegetables, typically the common ones that you have on hand, but the Fagioli soup also incorporates beans and pasta. 

    Minestrone is typically more of a brothy soup and doesn’t typically have pasta, although some recipes do add it to bulk it up and make it less broth based. 

    They are similar with basic ingredients, but the spices are slightly different as well. 

    More Soup Recipes

    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. If you want more soup options, here you go:

    You might also like this 5 Soup Pasta or Tortellini Casserole.

    4.67 from 3 votes

    Pasta e Fagioli

    Created by Stacie Vaughan
    Servings 6
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 20 minutes
    Total Time 30 minutes
    This classic Italian noodle soup is so hearty and comforting! Pancetta and kidney beans mixed with fun round noodles and Asiago cheese.

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 2 cups Ditalini pasta uncooked
    • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 cloves garlic minced
    • 1 small red onion diced
    • ¾ cup pancetta cubed
    • 2 cups kidney beans drained and rinsed
    • 1 cup tomato sauce
    • 2 cups water
    • ½ cup Asiago cheese shredded
    • salt and pepper
    • parsley for garnish, if desired

    Instructions

    • 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.
    • Stir in kidney beans and tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
    • 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.
    • 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.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1g | Calories: 364kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 447mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g

    The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

    Course Soups
    Cuisine Italian
    Keyword Pasta e Fagioli

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    16 Comments

    1. Hi Stacie, Your pasta e fagioli is a little different that what I’ve had before but it looks and sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe! Blessings, Janet

    2. What a great bowl of Pasta and so colorful! Hope you have a great week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
      Miz Helen

    3. kathy downey says:

      Thanks for the recipe i’m looking forward to trying this

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