Pasta e Fagioli is a hearty pasta and kidney beans soup, from the heartland of delicious food, Italy. It's a filling lunch ready in under 30 minutes and tastes absolutely amazing. Plus, you can make a batch of it at the weekend and enjoy it all week long - it's a real time-saver.
Pasta and kidney beans soup (Pasta e Fagioli) originates from the Campania region of Italy and was considered a peasant dish due to its simple ingredients, but simple is often best and this soup packs a punch of flavour whilst being cheap to create and easy to make!
We make a tomato stew, starting with bacon or pancetta to flavour the fat and cook the onion before adding garlic, oregano, bay leaves and a hint of chilli spice. The kidney beans soup is cooked with chicken broth to give it some meaty depth and I add parmesan rind too as it really gives it the nuttiness I love. Nothing is wasted, we add the liquid from the kidney beans too. Save your onion skin to make your own broth in future, I put it in zip lock bags in the freezer until I'm ready to use it.
So, pasta e fagioli. Read on!
Pasta e Fagioli (or Pasta Fazool) is a delicious cold-weather soup as it's so cosy and warms you up.
Looking for other soups? Try these...
Butternut squash and crispy sage
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Ingredients
- Pasta
I use elbow pasta for this recipe but conchigliette (small shells) will work well too.
We cook our pasta separately rather than all in one pot, as it tends to overcook this way in my opinion and I am not a fan of floppy engorged pasta.
- Bacon
You can either use bacon or pancetta for this pasta e fagioli recipe.
- Onion
- Garlic
- Kidney beans
Don't drain your kidney beans as we use the liquid!
- Canned tomatoes
Whole canned tomatoes will always be the best quality, followed by chopped, followed by pureed. So it's better to buy the whole canned tomatoes and then chop or blend them yourself with an immersion blender in the tin.
- Chicken broth
Use homemade or store-bought both but if store-bought, get the low sodium.
- Chilli flakes
This adds a subtle warmth that is SO good in cold weather, it really heats you up from the inside out.
- Oregano
- Parmesam cheese
- Bay leaves
I grate parmesan over the top as a garnish, but an excellent thing to do is keep all of your old parmesan rinds in the freezer and add them to soups and stews whilst they're cooking to give extra flavour. So, if you have an old parmesan rind, use this too whilst the soup is cooking!
- Parsley
Fresh parsley works best as a garnish for this dish
- Butter and olive oil
- Salt and pepper
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Dice your onion, crush your garlic and cut your bacon into strips.
In a large casserole pot or dutch oven
In a large casserole pot or dutch oven heat some butter and cook the bacon until it's crispy, before removing to a plate.
Add the onion to the bacon fat, and cook it until softened.
Stir through the garlic, chilli flakes and oregano and cook for another one or two minutes.
Pour in the kidney beans plus their liquid and then add the tomatoes and chicken broth.
Add the bay leaves, bacon and parmesan rind (if using), season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes.
When you have ten minutes left on the clock, bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil.
Cook your pasta for five or six minutes so it is still al dente, and then drain it and serve in warm bowls.
Ladle the soup over the top of the pasta and garnish it with freshly grated parmesan and chopped parsley.
Substitutions and variations
Here are a few ways to adapt this pasta and kidney beans soup to suit you.
- Beans - instead of kidney beans you could use white cannelini beans
- Spicy - you can add more or less chilli flakes to this pasta and kidney beans soup to adjust the heat level
- Vegan - Just omit the bacon and butter, use vegetable stock and oil instead. And vegan cheese because cheese is life.
Equipment
You will need a casserole pot or dutch oven, and a saucepan for the pasta.
Storage
Store any leftovers in the fridge, they'll be good for 2-3 days.
You can freeze any leftover soup, and then when ready to eat, just defrost it and cook the pasta separately to stir through.
Pasta and kidney beans soup, pasta e fagiloli
Equipment
- Dutch oven/casserole pot
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 200 grams bacon
- 150 grams elbow pasta dry weight
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 onion
- 1 litre chicken broth
- 800 grams can tomatoes
- 800 grams kidney beans keep the liquid
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 parmesan rind
- 3 tablespoon grated parmesan
- 3 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 20 grams butter
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Dice your onion, crush your garlic and cut your bacon into strips.
- In a large casserole pot or dutch oven heat some butter and cook the bacon until it's crispy, before removing it to a plate.
- Add the onion to the bacon fat, and cook it until softened.
- Stir through the garlic, chilli flakes and oregano and cook for another one or two minutes.
- Pour in the kidney beans plus their liquid and then add the tomatoes and chicken broth.
- Add the bay leaves, bacon and parmesan rind (if using), season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes.
- When you have ten minutes left on the clock, bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil.
- Cook your pasta for five or six minutes so it is still al dente, and then drain it and serve in warm bowls.
- Ladle the soup over the top of the pasta and garnish it with freshly grated parmesan and chopped parsley.
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