Taccozze e Fagioli — Rough Pasta and Beans of Molise

Ingredients

• For the beans
• 300 g dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight in cold water, drained
• 150 g pork rind (cotiche), cut into strips
• 30 g lard, rendered early in cooking
• 1 piece aromatics (onion, celery, garlic), as preferred for bean broth
• For the taccozze
• 200 g 00 flour, or semolina for the traditional version
• 2 eggs, for the 00-flour version; omit and use water for semolina version
• To finish
• 1 tsp dried chilli, crumbled
• 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, raw, for finishing
• salt, added at the end only

Method

1. 1
   Place the drained borlotti, pork rind, and lard in a deep pot with enough cold water to cover generously. Add the aromatics. Bring slowly to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 1.5–2 hours. The beans are ready when they yield completely without resistance at the centre.
2. 2
   While the beans cook, make the taccozze dough. Combine the flour and eggs (or semolina and water) and knead to a firm, smooth dough. Rest for 20 minutes. Roll to 3 mm. Make diagonal cuts in both directions at 3–4 cm intervals to produce rough, irregular diamonds — the unevenness is intentional and correct. The dough should hold its shape at the cut edge without springing back.
3. 3
   When the beans are almost completely tender, press a portion of them against the side of the pot with a spoon to release starch into the broth. The broth should turn opaque and faintly creamy in colour — this is the thickening on which the dish depends. This is where the dish lives or dies: pasta added before the beans are fully yielding will absorb the remaining liquid while the beans remain hard; the pot cannot recover.
4. 4
   Add the raw taccozze directly to the bean pot. Cook for 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally. The pasta absorbs the remaining liquid and its own starch thickens the broth further. The soup is ready when the pasta is tender but still has body and the mixture has tightened to a dense, spoonable consistency — it should hold its shape briefly when stirred.
5. 5
   Season with salt only at this final stage. Ladle into warmed bowls. Finish each portion with raw extra-virgin olive oil and crumbled dried chilli. Serve immediately: the soup thickens dramatically as it cools.