In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve fallen in love with Judith Barrett’s cookbook Fagioli: The Bean Cuisine of Italy. If I could take a week off and cook my way through the book from cover to cover, I would.

Today’s recipe is a dish that I’ve wanted to try for many years. I’d heard about pasta with beans long before I bought Barrett’s cookbook. Now I’m not talking about the familiar pasta e fagioli, which tends to be a soupier dish. I’m talking about pasta with a sauce made of beans. This type of dish is not common in the regions of Italy where my parents are from, but Barrett includes a recipe in her book for pasta in a red bean sauce and I just couldn’t resist.

As with almost all the recipes in the book this one begins with soaking beans overnight. I used red kidney beans as the recipe instructed but I’m sure you could try this with a variety of different beans. After their overnight soak, I simmered the beans for about two hours with some bay leaves and some garlic cloves. Barrett explains in her recipe that the beans should almost be falling apart. This will help create a creamier sauce for the pasta.

I set the beans aside and went ahead with the rest of the recipe. I sauteed pancetta, onion and celery in olive oil while I cooked my pasta. The recipe calls for tagliatelle but I had penne on hand and decided to use those. Once the pancetta was browned and the onion and celery had softened, I drained the beans and added them to the sauce. I flavoured the sauce with pepper flakes and salt. Once the pasta was cooked, I added it to the sauce along with some parsley and lots of Parmigiano Reggiano.

It was delicious! The beans broke down enough to create a thick, creamy coating for the penne and the pancetta added a lovely flavour to the pasta as well. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Ciao!

Pasta with Red Bean Sauce
Adapted from Fagioli: The Bean Cuisine of Italy by Judith Barrett.

Note: This recipe will make 4 servings.

1/2 cup red kidney beans, soaked overnight (at least 8 hours)
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup olive oil
4 slices pancetta, about a 1/4 inch thick, cut into tiny pieces
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
1 celery stalk, chopped finely
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
penne (or the pasta of your choice)
a few tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano
chopped parsely (optional)

After having soaked the beans overnight or for at least 8 hours, place the beans in a large pot and cover with 6 cups of water. Add the bay leaves and the garlic cloves.

Bring the beans to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to medium-low, keeping the beans at a simmer.

Simmer for an hour and a half, stirring frequently.

Once the time is up, turn the heat off and set the beans aside. Leave them in the water with the lid on.

Set a large pot of water to boil for your pasta. While you wait for the water to boil, prepare the rest of the sauce by heating the olive oil in a large, wide saucepan.

Once the oil is hot, lower the heat to medium and add the pancetta, onion and celery, stirring often. Be sure not to burn the mixture. Cook until the pancetta is browned and the onion and celery have softened. This should take between 15 and 20 minutes.

Drain the beans and add them to the pancetta mixture. Discard the bay leaves but add the garlic cloves to the mixture as well. Mash them up so that they flavour the sauce. Add the red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Cook for 5 minutes and then turn the heat off while you cook your pasta.

Once the water for the pasta has boiled, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the bean and pancetta mixture. Turn the heat on low as you combine the pasta with the sauce. Add the parsley and the Parmigiano Reggiano and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

These little buttons of great taste may not look like much, in fact they may not look like anything at all thanks to the poor photo (my apologies), but I was so anxious to eat them that I had to set the camera down and get to munching.

If you’re wondering what they are, they’re roasted fava beans! I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried roasted fava beans before or even heard of them but for me, roasted fava beans are a treasured childhood snack. They would often grace our table whenever we had guests. My mother would set them out along with nuts and other finger foods to be enjoyed with a glass of homemade wine.

This was before entertaining became the stylish business that it has evolved into today. I remember when a few slices of homemade sausage, some walnuts, some dried figs, some cheese and a glass of vino were the standards of entertaining in my home and in the homes of family members and friends.

While we never made roasted fava beans at home, we’d find them at our local Italian grocer. After awhile, they seemed to fall out of favour and were difficult to find. Recently, I was so happy to see them on a store shelf again. And when I came across the recipe for Roasted Fava Beans in the cookbook I’ve chosen as my Flavour of the Month, I couldn’t wait to try them.

Every time I cook with beans I always ask myself, “Why don’t I cook beans more often?” They’re so easy to make, so filling, so good for you and so satisfying! A pot of beans bubbling on the stove is as comforting as anything I can think of.

These fava beans are a delicious snack and a healthy one at that. I tried the recipe a few times and here are a few tips I picked up along the way. While fava beans can be large, you’ll often find very large dried fava beans in stores. Don’t use those. Use regular sized beans as the large ones may be too hard after roasting. Another tip I picked up is that after soaking the fava beans overnight and trimming off the black tip, I soaked the beans again for a few more hours. It helped to soften the beans even more before roasting. If, after soaking the beans twice, you come across some that are still hard, just discard them. Roasted fava beans are good, but I don’t think it’s worth breaking a few teeth over!

The original recipe calls for these to be flavoured with a bit of salt but I like my beans spicy so I hope you’ll enjoy my adaptation of a snack that’s very dear to me.

Ciao!

Roasted Fava Beans
Adapted from Fagioli: The Bean Cuisine of Italy by Judith Barrett.

1 cup dried fava beans
water
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
any spice of your choosing

Place the dried fava beans in a large bowl and cover them with water. Let the beans soak overnight or for at least 8 hours.

After the beans have soaked, drain them and rinse them. With a paring knife, remove the black tip of the bean. Place the beans back in the bowl and cover them with water again. Soak for another 2 hours.

Rinse the beans again. If you come across any that are still hard, then discard them.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the fava beans on the parchment.

Roast for about an hour, keeping an eye on the beans so that they don’t burn. The beans will be browned and crisp when they’re done.

Take them out of the oven and put them in a bowl, immediately pouring over the olive oil. Mix to coat the beans with oil and then add salt and pepper to taste along with whatever spice you like. You could try oregano, red pepper flakes or paprika!

Enjoy!