There were at least three reasons why Pasta E. Fagiole was the second most popular dinner at home growing up. (Traditional pasta always topped the list.)
Foremost, it was economical. Enough so that the dish also took the brunt of a common neighborhood cliché, “We may not afford steak, but we can always eat Pasta E. Fagiole!”. Even back then that always made us smile. Those that could afford more elaborate meals, they were the ones missing out!
Catholics dominated the neighborhood and Friday was the day we fasted from eating red meat. Children and teenagers mostly didn’t appreciate the fluid availability of fresh fish. Beans and pasta soup made meatless was a great alternative.
The other obvious reason, it’s simply delicious.
Like almost all other Italian dishes, each family’s recipe varied. Ours started with a traditional Battuta, a flavor base of finely chopped or minced celery, carrots, onion and salt pork. Additional ingredients included olive oil, garlic, herbs, tomatoes, beans, pasta, water and/or broth. Leftover ham bones if available were especially prized for added flavors.
Mom would mix it up with different pasta shapes and varieties of different beans. Most common where navy, cannellini, garbanzo, lima, or red kidney.
A small neighborhood grocer on the corner of Margrett and Prince streets offered a large selection of bulk pasta in different sizes and shapes. They were conveniently stored inside bays of oak draws. At mom’s direction, the slight elderly store owner would grab small handfuls of different long pastas, spaghetti, angel hair, fusilli, linguini, etc., until the combination reached a pound. When mom was finally ready to add to them soup, she would break them by hand in 2 or 3 inch lengths.
Pasta E Fagiole wasn’t without controversy! As noted, it was a popular Friday dish often served to abide with meatless Friday. The dispute was centered around the true definition of “meatless! Specifically, if the dish used rendered salt pork and the solids discarded, was it really meatless? Not to say that Mom would ever do that!
One other variable relates to pasta. Some families added uncooked pasta directly into the soup. Others added traditional precooked. Cooking in the soup, the pasta absorbs much of the liquid resulting in a thicker soup. Some argue a more flavorful soup.
Battuta:
Remaining Ingredients: