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Pasta Fagioli
Whether you call this soup Pasta Fagioli, Pasta e Fagioli, Pasta Fazool, or Pasta Fasul – this hearty soup is absolutely delicious!
Ingredients
Stock
4 pounds bone-in smoked shoulder
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2 medium carrots, trimmed and coarsely chopped
1 large celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 cup of celery leaves (optional)
1 bay leaf
12 peppercorns
Water
Soup
3 15.5-ounce cans white navy beans or one pound of dry navy beans
1 cup dry ditalini pasta, cooked according to box directions, cooled and set aside
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 cups yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 cups celery, diced
4 cups carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
3 cups white wine
2 14.5-ounce cans stewed tomatoes, coarsely cut up
14 cups of stock from above (3 1/2 quarts)
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dry oregano
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
8 ounces baby spinach
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/4 cup flay leaf parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper, as needed
Instructions
- If using dry navy beans instead of canned, soak one pound of dry beans in water overnight and rinse. If using canned, drain and rinse under cold water. Either way, then enter the recipe at the same step.
- Place the smoked shoulder in a 10-quart pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil then remove from heat and discard the water. This step will remove excess salt.
- Place the smoked shoulder back into the pot along with the other stock ingredients and five quarts of water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to low and cook covered for 3 ½ hours.
- After 3 ½ hours, use a spider or strainer and remove smoke shoulder to a platter. Remove bone and freeze for other soup recipes. Discard fat, gristle and skin and cut the meat into bite sized pieces once cooled.
- Strain out the remaining solids then reduce the stock down to 14 cups (3 ½ quarts). This can be done at a full boil and should take 20-30 minutes to reduce. Skim off any fat. (The stock can be made a day in advance)
- Cook the pasta per box directions, drain and cool. Set aside.
- In a 10-quart soup pot, heat three tablespoons of the olive oil over medium high heat and add the onions, celery, carrots and garlic and saute eight minutes, stirring often.
- Add wine and cook to reduce liquid by half.
- Add the cut up stewed tomatoes, the stock, bay leaves, oregano as well as the navy beans.
- If using soaked dry navy beans, simmer the soup for 90 minutes or until the beans are tender. If using rinsed canned navy beans, simmer the soup for 20 minutes.
- Remove and discard the two bay leaves.
- Remove six cups of the soup, pulling from the bottom to get a lot of solids, and place in a bowl and puree with a stick blender or in a regular blender and puree until smooth. Add this pureed liquid back to the pot.
- Add balsamic vinegar, spinach and cooked cut up smoked shoulder and cook to wilt the spinach, about five minutes.
- Since we did not add any salt or pepper as the soup cooked, taste and add as needed now. We added a little cracked black pepper but did not add any additional salt, since the ham stock was salty enough.
- In a bowl, mix cooked pasta with grated Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley and remaining two tablespoons of olive oil. Add this mixture just before you are ready to serve or add to each bowl and pour the hot soup over.
- Grate more Parmesan cheese over each portion.
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