Pasta Fasùl (Pasta Fagioli)
Growing up in our Italian American household we could always count on one of our favorite meatless meals on a Friday night...Pasta Fasùl. Depending upon the region of Italy your family is from, you may know it as pasta fagioli or pasta fasùl (fazool). Our grandparents were from Naples and Sicily, which shared the same word for beans, fasùl. Technically this dish is a soup; however, we loved it best when most of the liquid dried up & was topped with lots of grated Pecorino Romano cheese. Our Mom always made this with small or medium-sized pasta shells; however, you can use any small pasta in your pantry as we did tonight. This is a very rustic meal but can be dressed up with the addition of any vegetable you have on hand, i.e. spinach, carrots, zucchini, or escarole. To complete this meal, serve with a side salad. Give it a try on those nights you're pressed for time and let us know how you and your family like it.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. medium or small pasta shells or elbow pasta (we used ditalini as that’s what we had on hand)
- 10 -12 cloves garlic, smashed
- 4 cans cannellini beans, do not rinse or drain the liquid
- 1 cup prepared tomato sauce (preferably homemade or your favorite jar sauce) I also use Hunt’s Tomato Sauce with basil, garlic, and oregano if I don’t have homemade sauce.
- 1 small can tomato paste plus same can filled with water to dilute (Omit if using Hunt’s Tomato Sauce with basil, garlic, & oregano)
- salt to taste
- reserve at least 1 cup cooked pasta water
- Pecorino Romano grated cheese for topping
Directions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a Tablespoon of salt then add pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions. Before draining reserve at least 1 cup of the pasta water then drain pasta & set aside in a large bowl.
- In a large, deep skillet on medium heat add EVOO. Add smashed garlic & sauté a minute or two but don’t burn.
- Add the 4 cans of cannellini beans and stir well until they begin to boil. Lower heat to medium-low and add 4 cans of Hunt’s Tomato Sauce with basil, garlic & oregano OR 1 cup prepared sauce & small can of tomato paste with a small can of water. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if too thick. Combine well and continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes.
- If you prefer a soupier pasta fasùl just add more of the reserved pasta water until it’s the consistency you like.
- Let sit for 5-10 minutes in a covered pot before serving.
- Top with grated cheese & garnish with fresh basil or parsley (optional)
NOTE: To make this meal gluten-free, just substitute any small-sized gluten-free pasta in place of regular pasta.
This dish thickens as it sits so if you want a thinner sauce, add more liquid in step 3-4 while cooking or add extra sauce.
Did you make this recipe? We would love to hear from you. Please leave us a comment below or Tag @twiinsinthekitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #twiinsinthekitchen.
HELP OUR BLOG GROW!
If you enjoyed trying one of our recipes, please give it a star rating at the bottom of the recipe page. This helps us our recipe get a higher Google ranking and will lead others to find and enjoy our recipes too. Thanks so much for your support!
I made this recipe today. I would probably recommend halving the recipe as we (a family of 2) would never be able to consume all of the food. I thought that it was tasty and filling. I added spinach to the basic recipe and only used a bit of cheese. I am thinking that this recipe would be something that a working family would make: easy, fast, filling , inexpensive and nutritional.
Thanks for your comments Jane. A normal portion for pasta is 2oz of dry pasta for each serving. Next time try 4 oz of dry pasta and use 1 can of beans to 1 can of sauce unless you want leftover sauce to use for another dish. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.