Pasta e Fagioli con Cotiche alla Lucana

Ingredients

• 300 g dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight in cold water
• 400 g pork rind (cotiche), blanched, scraped and excess fat removed
• For the soffritto
• 30 g lard
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
• 200 g tubetti or ditali, dry short pasta
• 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil, raw, for finishing
• 2 g black pepper, coarsely ground, added aggressively at the end
• Optional Lucana variation
• 2 cloves garlic, for rolling inside the cotiche
• 10 g flat-leaf parsley, for rolling inside the cotiche
• 1 small peperoncino, dried, for rolling inside the cotiche

Method

1. 1
   Drain the soaked borlotti beans and set aside. Blanch the cotiche in a large pot of unsalted boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain, scrape the inner fat surface thoroughly with a knife until no rubbery fat pockets remain, and discard the blanching water. The scraped surface should feel clean and slightly tacky, with no loose fat.
2. 2
   Lay the scraped cotiche flat on a work surface. Optionally, scatter garlic, parsley and peperoncino across the inner face. Roll each piece tight and tie at intervals with kitchen twine. The rolls should hold their shape under gentle pressure without unravelling.
3. 3
   In a wide, heavy pot, melt the lard over a medium flame. Add the onion, celery and carrot and render slowly until the vegetables have softened completely and the lard has absorbed their moisture — the soffritto should be pale gold and fragrant, not browned.
4. 4
   Add the drained borlotti beans and the tied cotiche rolls to the pot. Cover with cold water to a depth of about 4 cm above the solids — no more, as the broth must finish thick and starchy, not watery. Bring to a gentle simmer. This is where the dish lives or dies: maintain a steady, quiet simmer for two full hours, never a rolling boil, until the cotiche have surrendered their collagen into the liquid, the beans are completely tender and the broth has thickened visibly from the released gelatin and bean starch. Do not salt during this stage.
5. 5
   Lift out the cotiche rolls, untie and slice into rounds; return them to the pot. If desired, remove a cupful of whole beans, mash them coarsely and stir the paste back into the broth to deepen the creaminess. The broth should coat a spoon.
6. 6
   Bring the broth back to an active simmer and add the tubetti or ditali directly to the pot. Cook for the final ten minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the pasta from catching on the base, until the pasta is just tender and has absorbed much of the surrounding liquid. The soup should be dense and cohesive, not pourable.
7. 7
   Remove from the heat. Taste and season with salt only now, bearing in mind the salinity contributed by the cotiche and lard throughout the braise. Finish with a generous pour of raw extra-virgin olive oil and an aggressive amount of coarsely ground black pepper — no cheese is added. Serve immediately at piping heat; the pasta will stiffen and the broth tighten irreversibly if the soup is rested.