Loredana’s  “Pasta e Fagioli” - Bean Soup of the Poor
Like many of the dishes from the “cucina povera” tradition, this simple bean and pasta soup has become a national favorite. My father called it “pasta fazool” in his Naples dialect, and when I was a child, it was also one of my favorites. This is the way Loredana Coppola makes it.

Ingredients for four:

1 celery stick

1 carrot

1 onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

150 g of diced pancetta

Pinch of chili pepper

1 dl extra virgin olive oil

3 medium sized tomatoes, chopped

400 g cooked, canned borlotti beans

200 g tubetti pasta or other short pasta

Salt as necessary

The procedure:

Chop and sauté, the celery, carrot, and onion in a thick bottomed pot in 2 tbsp. olive, oil.

Add the diced pancetta.

Add the minced garlic, a pinch of chili pepper, and stir in most of the cooked beans, while setting 100 g of the beans aside.

Season with salt and pepper and stir in the chopped tomatoes.

With a blender, cream the saved 100 g of beans and add them to the sauce, along with the liquid from the can and 3 dl hot water.

In another pot, boil the pasta al dente, drain it slightly, and add it to the sauce.

Add some of the pasta cooking water if needed, to finish cooking the pasta in the sauce.

Attention: The pasta and beans tend to stick to the pot, so carefully stir them from the bottom upwards.

Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and serve the dish with thick slices of crusty bread.