Sagna Torta con Fagioli Borlotti Abruzzese

Ingredients

• For the sagne torte
• 300 g durum semolina (semola di grano duro rimacinata)
• 150 ml water, lukewarm
• For the bean soup
• 350 g dried Borlotti beans, soaked overnight in cold water, drained
• 120 g guanciale or lardo, cut into small dice
• 2 dried peperoncino, 1 left whole for cooking, 1 crumbled for finishing
• 1.5 litres water, for cooking the beans
• To finish
• 30 ml Abruzzo extra-virgin olive oil, DOP Aprutino Pescarese or Colline Teatine preferred; to drizzle raw over each bowl
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, added only after beans are fully soft

Method

1. 1
   Combine the durum semolina and lukewarm water on a work surface. Work the dough for 8–10 minutes until it is smooth, firm, and holds a clean impression when pressed. Wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The dough should feel supple but not tacky.
2. 2
   Roll the rested dough to a thickness of 2–3 mm. Cut into 5 cm squares. Immediately — while the dough is still pliable — twist each square by pressing one corner down against the board with one thumb while lifting and rotating the opposite corner with the other hand. The result is an irregular, cupped form. Set the twisted sagne on a lightly floured cloth. They must be shaped before the surface dries; a square that resists twisting without cracking has been left too long.
3. 3
   Place the soaked, drained Borlotti beans in a large pot with 1.5 litres of cold water and one whole dried peperoncino. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the beans are completely tender throughout — 60 to 90 minutes depending on age. Do not salt the water at this stage. The beans are ready when a single bean crushes between two fingers without any hard core.
4. 4
   Remove and discard the whole peperoncino. Season the bean pot with fine sea salt. Remove one-third of the cooked beans and crush or blend them to a smooth paste, then return this paste to the pot. The soup should now be thick, opaque, and rust-coloured — capable of holding a wooden spoon briefly upright. This dual creamy-chunky texture is the structural identity of the dish.
5. 5
   In a separate small pan, render the diced guanciale or lardo over a medium flame until the fat runs clear and the meat is lightly golden at the edges. Add the crumbled peperoncino and let it sizzle for no more than 30 seconds. Pour the rendered fat, meat, and chilli directly into the bean pot. The soup should take on a perceptible smokiness.
6. 6
   This is where the dish lives or dies: bring the bean soup to a steady, active simmer and add the sagne torte directly to the pot. Cook in the bean liquid for 12–15 minutes only. The pasta starch thickens the soup further; the bean liquid flavours the pasta from within. Pull the pot from the heat the moment a piece of pasta is tender but still offers faint resistance at the very centre — it will continue to soften in the residual heat. Pasta cooked beyond this point loses the structural distinction between the sagne and the bean cream.
7. 7
   Ladle into warmed deep bowls. The soup should be thick enough that it mounds slightly before settling. Drizzle each bowl with raw Abruzzo extra-virgin olive oil. Serve immediately; the soup tightens considerably as it cools.