There is no Giada, only pasta fazool!

Ok, I admit, the title of this post is corny. But what is Corno-copia without a little corn?

One of the greatest Italian peasant-style soups ever created is the often mispronounced Pasta e Fagioli. The reason for the great variety of renditions on the name of this dish stems down to three basic issues: 1. Regional Italian dialects (mainland vs. Sicily), 2. Poor education in America regarding foreign language, and 3. Food Network hosts who suffer from varying degrees of a combination of #1 and #2. The main Food Network culprit is Giada de Laurentiis with her vulgar pronunciations of all things Italian. Recently I saw Ms. de Laurentiis bastardize pasta fagioli, or, as she calls it, "Basta e fazheeoli and bean soup." The last time I checked, "basta" is informal Italian for "enough," I have no idea what "fahzheeoli" is, and to say "and bean soup" after all that is either redundant or an apology. I haven't figured that out yet. Nevertheless, this blog is about pasta fagioli and not the need to find Ms. de Laurentiis and slap her silly.

To put an end to the "great debate" over how to pronounce this dish, and to save you 5 embarrassing seconds when ordering this soup in a real Italian restaurant where the waitstaff is in fact Italian and not Portuguese or Greek, this is how you pronounce "pasta e fagioli": "Pasta," like pasta. "vFajole," with the hint of a soft v before the f. The e in the middle blends into the end of "pasta" so there's absolutely no need to make an attempt to get the e in there. If you try, you will look like a retard. And please forgive me my fully-Italian cousins (blame your Aunt Elva for making me half Irish!), it's not "pasta fazool" unless you're in South Philly or Sicily.

Again, this is one of the best peasant-style soups out there. When I say "peasant-style" soup, I mean "anything you have in your pantry will work nicely in this" soup. It's also a severely regional dish. So depending on where you are in Italy, your pasta will range from acini de pepe (Italian for "peppercorn" these look like tiny little beads) to orecchiette (Italian for "little ears" these look like, well, little ears). My recipe calls for acini de pepe. I find that you can bombard the soup with these itty bitty bits of pasta and still not overwhelm it. I find that the common problem in pasta e fagioli is either way too much pasta, or not nearly enough. I like to think I've solved that problem and therefore I present you with my own recipe for pasta e fagioli.

Pasta e Fagioli

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 can (14.5 oz) good quality organic chicken or vegetable broth
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 can (8 oz) good quality organic tomato sauce
1/2 cup uncooked acini de pepe
1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans, with liquid
Freshly grated, good quality Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat the olive oil until it glistens. Add the celery, onion, garlic, parsley, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and cook until the onion is translucent (about 4 minutes). Stir in the chicken (or vegetable) broth, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the pasta and cook another 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.

Add the undrained beans and mix well. Heat through, about 1 minute. Serve hot with grated cheese on top.

Buono appetito!