P
Italian · Abruzzo
Pasta e Fagioli Abruzzese — Pasta and Beans in the Mountain Style
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.
I
The Market List
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400 g
dried borlotti beans
soaked overnight in cold water, drained
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
300 g
pork ribs
meat cut from the bone and diced; bone reserved
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
onion
finely diced
Your own market
2
celery stalks
finely diced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
carrot
finely diced
Your own market
3
garlic cloves
finely chopped
Your own market
200 g
2
rosemary sprigs
whole
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
160 g
small pasta
maccheroncini alla chitarra broken into short lengths, or cicchitelli, or other small short pasta
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 ml
extra-virgin olive oil
plus more of the best available for finishing at table
Your own market
1 tsp
fine sea salt
plus more to season assertively before pasta is added
Your own market
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II
The Method
1
Set a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add a film of olive oil and render the diced pork rib meat until golden on all sides. The fat runs freely and the pieces colour without steaming — this is the fat that will enrich the entire broth.
2
Add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic to the pot. Cook in the rendered pork fat until the soffritto is completely soft and translucent, with no raw edge remaining on the onion.
3
Add the drained borlotti beans, chopped tomato, and rosemary sprigs. Pour over enough cold water to cover the beans by 8 cm. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 1½ to 2 hours. The beans must be completely tender and beginning to collapse — press one between thumb and forefinger and it should yield with no resistance whatsoever. Do not proceed until this point is reached; firm beans at this stage will not finish correctly once the pasta is in the pot.
4
Remove the rosemary sprigs. Lift out one-third of the beans with a slotted spoon and pass them through a food mill or press them through a sieve. Return the purée to the pot and stir it through. This step creates the thick, creamy medium that separates this dish from a simple bean soup. Season the broth assertively with salt — it should taste slightly over-seasoned, as the pasta will absorb it. This is where the dish lives or dies: the beans must be fully broken down, a portion puréed, and the seasoning correct before the pasta enters the pot — there is no recovering from under-cooked beans or a flat broth at this stage.
5
Add the raw pasta directly to the bean broth. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the starch from catching on the base. Add boiling water, a ladleful at a time, only if needed to keep the pasta moving — the final consistency should be dense and porridge-like, not soupy. The pasta is done when it is just tender and has absorbed the surrounding liquid into a unified mass.
6
Remove the pot from the heat. Allow the dish to rest for 5 minutes — the pasta continues to swell and the consistency thickens visibly during this rest. A spoon stood upright in the pot should tilt slowly rather than fall at once.
7
Ladle into warmed bowls. Finish each portion with a generous pour of raw extra-virgin olive oil. The oil is the last seasoning and is not omitted.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Freshly podded borlotti beans in season, cooked the same day; pork ribs from a heritage-breed animal with visible fat marbling; a single-estate extra-virgin olive oil from the Abruzzese hills used raw at table.
02
Estate — Dried borlotti beans from a named Italian supplier; good free-range pork ribs from a known butcher; a named Abruzzese or central-Italian extra-virgin olive oil for finishing.
03
Market — Standard dried borlotti beans, well within their date; supermarket pork ribs rendered until properly golden; a clean, grassy extra-virgin olive oil for the finish.
04
House — Canned borlotti beans, drained and rinsed, with cooking time reduced accordingly; pancetta substituted for pork ribs; any decent olive oil poured raw at the end.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. A bean pressed between thumb and forefinger yields completely, with no firm core — the irreversible test before pasta is added.
◇Sight. The finished dish is dense enough that a spoon stood upright tilts slowly rather than falling — the boundary between soup and pasta is correctly walked.
◇Sight. After the 5-minute rest off the heat, the surface has visibly tightened as the pasta continues to absorb the starchy broth.
◇Smell. The raw olive oil poured at table releases a fresh, grassy fragrance against the hot surface of the dish, signalling the final seasoning is in place.
◇Where it lives or dies. The beans must be completely tender and a third of them puréed into the broth — with seasoning corrected — before the pasta enters the pot; nothing can be recovered after that point.
Pillar V
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The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old
Old Bushmills Distillery · County Antrim — Bushmills Distillery
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance