Pasta e Fagioli Abruzzese — Pasta and Beans in the Mountain Style

Abruzzo — the mountain interior. Pasta e fagioli is the daily food of the Apennine farmer tradition — beans provided protein when meat was scarce, and the pasta cooked directly in the bean broth was the technique of people who had one pot and one fire.

Every Italian region makes pasta e fagioli, but the Abruzzese version has distinctive character: borlotti beans slow-cooked with pork ribs, tomato, and rosemary until the beans are collapsing and the pork has given its fat to the broth, then the pasta (traditionally small maccheroncini alla chitarra, broken pasta, or cicchitelli — a local flat pasta) is added and cooked directly in the bean liquid until it absorbs the starchy broth and the pasta and beans are unified. The dish walks the line between soup and pasta — it should be thick enough that a spoon stood in it tilts slowly. The pork rib enrichment is specifically Abruzzese.

The Abruzzese pasta e fagioli is thick, rich, and complex — the pork rib fat rounds the earthiness of the borlotti beans; the rosemary and tomato provide herbal and acid notes; the broken-down beans create a creamy, starchy medium in which the pasta sits. The raw olive oil at the end brightens everything. It is the most satisfying version of one of Italy's most satisfying dishes.