Weekends are often "cooking" days. There's plenty of time for recipes that take preparation as well as cooking time. So this last weekend, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I got Gord a copy of "Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes: The best recipes from the 25 best cookbooks of the year", volume 13 from Food and Wine for Christmas. The reason I purchased the cookbook was for some recipes by Donald Link, from a favorite restaurant in New Orleans, Cochon. As usual, though, once you start paging through a cook book, there are a LOT of recipes that call to you. One of them was this beans and pasta soup/stew. I'm sure you've made it lots of times, with a variety of ingredients...always, though, with beans and pasta, or it wouldn't be pasta e fagiole. This one called for...yes...PORK!!! So I had to try it. This recipe, from the cookbook, "Salt to Taste", published by Rodale Publishing, by Marco Canora with Catherine Young, uses pancetta or prosciutto, as well as slab bacon. I used peameal for the pancetta, reducing the fat content, because of the lean nature of peameal...and it was pretty darn tasty. In the original recipe, the pork is removed before serving. I chopped it after removal for those who wanted a little more with their soup!
Enjoy!
Pasta E Fagiole
Serves (a lot...the pasta swells...)
4 ounces peameal bacon, cut into 4 pieces
4 ounces smoked slab bacon
6 T extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for serving
2 c. diced white onions
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 T minced garlic
1 1/2 T finely chopped fresh rosemary (fresh is best!)
1 1/2 T finely chopped fresh sage
1 1/2 T tomato paste
2 1/4 c chicken broth
3 c. cannellini beans ( 28 oz canned beans)
1 pound short tubular pasta (I would use half this amount..it realllly swells)
3 T unsalted butter
2T freshly grated Parmigiano-Regiano (the real cheese...not the pre-grated variety)
Combine the bacons and oil in a stock put. Cook over medium heat. As the bacon browns, add the onions. Fry until the onions are soft. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add rosemary and sage. Cook for a minute or two and add the tomato paste, and cook over medium-low heat until concentrated and darkened. Add the broth and 1/2 the beans. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
As this is cooking, puree the rest of the beans with a little of the bean cooking liquid. You want about 3/4 of a cup. Scrape the puree into the pot and stir to mix. Simmer about 10 minutes. Remove the meat (you can discard or CHOP and sprinkle a little over the top when served). Season with salt and pepper. At this point you can finish the recipe and serve the soup, or you can refrigerate or freeze the beans for later use.
When you're ready to complete the soup, cook the pasta in a separate pot of boiling salted water (not in the bean broth). When it's almost al dente, lift it from the boiling water and add to the bean mixture. Stir in the butter and Parmigiano, add a few grinds of pepper and simmer until the pasta's done. Ladle into bowls, drizzle a little oil on the top and ENJOY!
The next day, when you take the leftovers out of the fridge, you'll wonder...where'd the broth go??? Just add more broth to your servings and you're good to go!
See you next month! Comments are always welcome at Gord's!
Gordette
4 ounces peameal bacon, cut into 4 pieces
4 ounces smoked slab bacon
6 T extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for serving
2 c. diced white onions
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 T minced garlic
1 1/2 T finely chopped fresh rosemary (fresh is best!)
1 1/2 T finely chopped fresh sage
1 1/2 T tomato paste
2 1/4 c chicken broth
3 c. cannellini beans ( 28 oz canned beans)
1 pound short tubular pasta (I would use half this amount..it realllly swells)
3 T unsalted butter
2T freshly grated Parmigiano-Regiano (the real cheese...not the pre-grated variety)
Combine the bacons and oil in a stock put. Cook over medium heat. As the bacon browns, add the onions. Fry until the onions are soft. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add rosemary and sage. Cook for a minute or two and add the tomato paste, and cook over medium-low heat until concentrated and darkened. Add the broth and 1/2 the beans. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
As this is cooking, puree the rest of the beans with a little of the bean cooking liquid. You want about 3/4 of a cup. Scrape the puree into the pot and stir to mix. Simmer about 10 minutes. Remove the meat (you can discard or CHOP and sprinkle a little over the top when served). Season with salt and pepper. At this point you can finish the recipe and serve the soup, or you can refrigerate or freeze the beans for later use.
When you're ready to complete the soup, cook the pasta in a separate pot of boiling salted water (not in the bean broth). When it's almost al dente, lift it from the boiling water and add to the bean mixture. Stir in the butter and Parmigiano, add a few grinds of pepper and simmer until the pasta's done. Ladle into bowls, drizzle a little oil on the top and ENJOY!
The next day, when you take the leftovers out of the fridge, you'll wonder...where'd the broth go??? Just add more broth to your servings and you're good to go!
See you next month! Comments are always welcome at Gord's!
Gordette
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