- No more going to the OG, you guys,
because I'm gonna show you how to make
a traditional pasta e fagioli soup.
It's incredible and way easier to make
than you may have thought.
We're doing in partnership with my friends
over at Bob's Red Mill.
Now because dried beans tastes
way better than canned beans,
they have texture, they have shape,
they're just significantly more flavorful.
We're gonna start off
by soaking some beans.
So I've got some Bob's
Red Mill cannellini beans
that are gonna be perfect in this recipe.
Go ahead and add them to a container.
We're next gonna fill
it up with cold water,
pop a lid on it.
We're gonna let it sit overnight.
They're gonna be nice and soak in
and easier to cook the next day.
Now, if you're pressed for time,
and I totally get it, a lot of you are,
what you can do is add
some boiling hot water
to the beans, the same amount,
about four inches over the beans,
filled with water, let it sit for an hour,
you'll be good to go.
Traditionally, a pasta e
fagioli uses something called
a borlotti bean.
It's really hard to find.
Sometimes it's called a cranberry bean,
maybe you can get it.
I'm gonna use a combination of both
just to add more flavor to this.
If not, don't worry the
cannellini bean will suffice.
Your fagioli still gonna
be super, super good.
And while we're talking about it,
pasta e fagioli translate to
literally pasta and beans.
That's all it is.
Nothin' crazier than that.
So for the cranberry beans
just do the same exact thing.
Pour 'em into a container,
fill it up with water,
we're gonna let it overnight.
Commis, there is a little bit
of mise en place to knock out
before we need to get cooking on this.
So what I'm gonna do is slice, peel,
and medium dice up a white onion,
going to medium dice some celery,
next, gonna peel and medium
dice up some carrots,
and then finally, I'm gonna
run a few garlic cloves
through my garlic press
because I'm super lazybones,
and I don't like mincing it anymore.
Now that we've got all these ingredients,
head over to the cooktop.
We've got an exceptionally large pot.
You know me, I'm cookin'
for the neighborhood.
We're gonna add in a
little bit of olive oil.
I've got some medium to
large, diced pancetta bacon.
This is Italian bacon,
gonna add a lot of natural salt in here.
What we're gonna do is just cook it
until it's just nice and crisp
just like you would bacon.
After three or four
minutes on medium heat,
maybe five minutes,
we're gonna take that pancetta bacon out,
set it to the side on a plate.
Now we've got some delicious olive oil
and the rendered pancetta bacon fat, wooo!
It's gonna be good, you guys.
Super good.
Add in the vegetables, the
onion, celery, and carrots.
We want to cook these
over low to medium heat
for about eight to 10 minutes.
We want to make sure
they're nice and tender.
I'm not looking for a caramelization.
If I was we'd be a lot higher heat.
But I think these lower temperatures
are gonna sweat these
vegetables a little bit,
gonna make 'em super tasty.
This is a great time, though,
because I've got some
San Marzano tomatoes,
they're super sweet.
If you've got 'em from the garden,
and you're making this in the summertime,
this is gonna be on point for you guys.
So what I'm going to do is
take my hands or a hand,
and I like to just break up the tomatoes,
sort of crush them by hand.
You can probably buy these
pre-crushed in a can.
I just like to do it, this
is the way I was taught,
that's the way I'm
stickin' to it, my friends.
Now we're gonna simply add
in the finely minced garlic,
give it a stir for just a minute or two,
once you smell garlic, like
I always say, it's done.
It's time to get goin' next.
Go ahead and add in the
crushed San Marzano tomatoes.
Now we've got those drained beans.
So go ahead and add in
the cannellini first.
Next, the borlotti beans.
Now I'm gonna pour in some
homemeade chicken stock,
and this is just gonna
elevate it, my friends.
Seriously, it's gonna be so good.
This is what you need to do.
Pour it in.
And a little trick, I'm gonna
add in some Parmesan rinds.
You could buy these
from the cheese section
at your local grocery store.
It's gonna add some
awesome flavor to this.
It's actually a great trick
to add to any Italian soup.
Literally, just takes it over to the top.
What you want to do is cook
this for about 45 minutes.
We want those beans to cook down.
We want them to be nice and tender,
and then I'm gonna add in
some of the pancetta that we cooked off,
be sure to set a little to the side.
And at this point, to help
thicken the soup up a little bit,
and it's really traditional to do this,
we're gonna add about
three or four ladlefuls,
maybe two to three cups total,
into a blender.
Once they're in the blender,
we're gonna pop on the top,
be sure to remove that
centerpiece or it's gonna explode,
I like to put a little towel over there,
and then turning it on slowly,
we're just gonna puree it
until it is a bean paste
or it's really thick.
Once it's to this consistency,
head back over to that pot,
simply pour it in.
Now it's time to hook it
up with some fresh herbs.
So I've got some chopped,
fresh rosemary and parsely.
We're gonna add those right to that soup.
We're gonna season it up, of
course, with salt, pepper,
and give it a stir.
I'm just gonna cook it
for a few more minutes
or keep it warm
because we got some ditalini
pasta we need to cook off.
And I'm gonna stop you right here.
Commis, this one is for you.
I absolutely hate, I mean
despise, cooking noodles in soup.
Ask yourself, you ever
go to the grocery store,
the hot food section, you
pull out a ladle of soup,
and it's like gruel or oatmeal?
It's because the pasta's overcooked
and it's turned the soup to mush.
It's disgusting.
So I cook pasta separate,
I keep pasta separate
until it's time to serve it up.
That's exactly what we're gonna do here,
and that's what you should do
whenever you make a soup
that involves pasta.
It's the only way to do it.
So I've got a large pot of boiling water.
Of course we're gonna season
up with some sea salt,
and then simply add in the ditalini pasta.
Be sure to move it around
so that the noodles don't stick together.
And after about five to six minutes,
that's all it takes for these to cook,
I simply cool it down
under some cold water,
keep it to the side in a
bag, toss 'em in olive oil,
and pull it out as you need it.
Gonna plate this up.
Got a bowl full of these
cooked noodles already.
Gonna ladle on a few ladles
of that pasta e fagioli soup,
and then I like to grate on
a little bit more Parmesan cheese.
I just think it adds more flavor,
and then hit it with some herbs.
I've got some fresh
rosemary and parsley leaves,
and then hopefully, you
reserved a little bit
of that pancetta bacon like I told you to,
simply sprinkle that on the top.
Boom, you've got yourself
an absolutely insanely,
classic Italian, traditional
pasta e fagioli soup.
It's awesome during those
cold and winter days,
and if you love this soup
you better check out my
other amazing OG version
for zuppa toscana, and
I'll see you on that video.
