Pasta e Fagioli meaning “pasta and beans”, is a traditional Italian dish made with pasta, beans and vegetables. Also called pasta e fasule or pasta fasul and pasta fazool in the New York Italian dialect, it is a beloved recipe of Italian cuisine.

Today there are many variations of this dish, and almost every region of Italy has its own version, making it hard to establish the exact origin of this dish. Some believe it originated in Campania, others Lazio, and some are convinced it comes from Veneto, as the dialect name of it, pasta e fasoi, would imply. But one thing is certain – it is a dish with a very long history, dating back to the time of the Roman Empire. At that time it was prepared with black eye peas, the only type of beans known at that time, which were imported from West Africa, and it was considered a poor man’s meatless dish (cucina povera), like pizza and polenta.
Pasta e Fagioli as it is known nowadays was invented after the discovery of America, and the importation of American beans in the 16th century. This “new” version of the dish, made with American beans like Borlotti or Cannellini, quickly became the dish of the rich and nobles, while the poor and working-class kept eating the “old” version with black eye peas. Through the years, the use of black eye peas lessened, and today Pasta e Fagioli is only being made with Borlotti or Cannellini beans.

Other typical ingredients include pasta, onions, celery, carrots and often stewed tomatoes or tomato paste. Different kinds of pasta can be used, but the most common is short pasta, such as ditalini rigati or elbow macaroni. Some versions of this dish contain meat, often bacon, ground beef, or pancetta and are made with meat-based stock, while others are made with vegetable-based stock and are an example of a vegan traditional Italian cuisine. Spices are kept at a minimum – usually just rosemary, black pepper and salt.

We made the version of Pasta e Fagioli with “meat”, and we used vegan bacon. Whichever version you choose, you will enjoy a delicious and nutritious meal, best described in Dean Martin’s song – “When the stars make you drool, just like pasta fazool, that’s amore.”!