Pasta e Fagioli means “pasta and beans” but there’s a lot more than that going on in this comforting, deeply flavorful dish. Although it’s generally considered to be a soup, my version goes in a thicker, heartier direction, so packed with beans, ground beef and diced veggies, it’s more like a saucy pasta dish than a soup. You will need a big spoon for slurping up all those goodies, and how about a hunk of crusty Italian bread for sopping up every last bit of the sauce?
Ditali is the classic pasta shape for Pasta e Fagioli, but you can substitute any other small pasta shape, such as elbows or small shells.
The liquid in this dish comes from beef broth and tomato sauce – but instead of plain tomato sauce, I use a combination of marinara sauce (jarred or homemade) and V8 juice, a sneaky shortcut that adds tons of flavor with zero effort.
Making this ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- Pasta e Fagioli will keep for five days in the fridge, so make it ahead and/or keep leftovers within that timeframe.
- Don’t worry about adding the pasta while the mixture is hot and storing the leftovers with the pasta mixed in – it’s not a problem with Pasta e Fagioli the way it can be with soupier soups such as Minestrone, where the pasta absorbs more liquid as the soup cools, sucking up all the soup and turning mushy. The sauce is so thick here, you can store and reheat the leftovers the way you would leftover pasta. The microwave is fine.
- Freeze for up to a month.
Pasta e Fagioli
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1¼ pounds ground beef, preferably 85% lean
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 medium onion
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1½ teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- ½ cup red wine
- One 15-ounce can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- One 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juices
- 2 cups (16 ounces) marinara or pizza sauce, jarred or homemade
- One 6-ounce can V8 juice
- 2 cups of beef broth, divided, plus additional if needed
- 8 ounces ditali pasta or other small dried pasta such as elbows or small shells
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh basil
Directions
- Step 1 Heat a large heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, crumble in the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the ground beef, stirring occasionally and breaking it up with a spoon, until it’s browned and cooked through.
- Step 2 While the beef is cooking, peel and chop the onion into small dice. Peel and dice the carrot. Dice the celery, and mince the garlic and thyme.
- Step 3 Remove the beef to a plate and wipe out the pot with a paper towel. Lower the heat to medium, return the pot to the heat, and add the remaining olive oil. Add the onion, carrot and celery, and season with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and the carrots and celery are starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, oregano and crushed red pepper flakes, and cook for 1 more minute.
- Step 4 Stir in the red wine. Simmer the mixture until the wine is reduced to a thick glaze on the vegetables, about 3 minutes.
- Step 5 Add the reserved ground beef back to the pot along with the drained and rinsed kidney and cannellini beans, the tomatoes with their juices, the marinara sauce, V8, and 1 cup of beef broth. Raise the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium low and partially cover the pot. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Step 6 Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water for 2 minutes less than the shortest time in the range on the package. Drain the pasta and set it aside.
- Step 7 After the beef mixture has simmered for 1 hour, stir in the cooked pasta and 1 more cup of beef broth. Raise the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the pasta is heated through and has absorbed some of the sauce. Add more beef broth if desired to reach your desired consistency. I like it thick, just slightly looser and saucier than a baked pasta dish like ziti. If you want a more stew-like consistency, keep adding beef broth until you get it where you want it.
- Step 8 Stir in the basil. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
