It’s been a weird spring in the PNW. It had a slow start, staying cold and rainy for a quite a while. It’s Seattle, so, cold and rainy is kind of our MO, and it honestly didn’t really bother me. But, it did go on for a long time. Then, suddenly, it was height-of-summer-hot for over a week. Poor Seattle people, like me, were positively melting. Really, my constitution is not made for the heat. So, imagine my delight to wake up this morning to 50F and rain! Oh joy! Not only am I a functional human again, but I get one more chance to make soup before packing it in until next fall!

My family likes to make fun of me for how much I love beans. A legume, in any form, just makes me so happy. They’re so, very, satisfying. Give them to me refried (with the good lard), with rice, hot- in chili, cold- in salad, mashed into hummus. I will eat them here, I will eat them there, I will eat them anywhere.

I don’t think anyone would accuse me of being a stickler for nutrition (says the person who eats cake for breakfast on the reg), but I am tickled when a food I adore also happens to be good for you. Like beans, for example. They’re packed with protein and fiber. I could go on and on about beans’ virtues, but we need to get to the soup, so I’ll try to reign it in here.

So, what’s the perfect soup for a bean-lover like me? Why, pasta fazool, of course!

Pasta e fagioli , commonly known as pasta fazool, is one of my very favorite things to cook because it is a great fridge-raid meal, using up vegetables that have seen better days. Any sort of broth will do. The variations are endless. It can be beefed up for winter (I particularly like a tomato base and Italian sausage), but it can just as easily be brightened-up for spring (with clear broth, greens and lemon zest). As long as the soup contains beans and pasta, it’s pasta fazool.

However you make it, I have a few rules of thumb for pasta fazool (or really any brothy soup):

1. Add some spice, like chopped chilies or grated ginger in with the mirepoix at the beginning.
2. Add greens! briefly cook braising greens (like collards, kale or chard) with your mix before adding the broth. Or add thinly sliced, hearty, fresh greens, like escarole or radicchio, to the the serving bowl before ladling fresh, hot soup over top.
3. A squeeze of lemon juice and a shower of zest, to finish the soup, adds brightness.
4. Whenever I make soup with pasta, I always cook the pasta separately and add at the time of serving, rather than cooking it directly in the soup. This adds an extra step, but is well worth it to avoid the dreaded soggy pasta in the leftovers.

This recipe is a springy version with home-made parmesan broth and cooked, dry beans. But, there is no shame in using canned broth and beans. As the queen of everyone’s hearts, Ina Garten, would say “store bought is fine” (by the way, check out this fun blog dedicated entirely to Ina’s concept).

I use collard greens in my spring pasta fazool, because I love collards almost as much as I love beans. It’s a twist inspired by the recipe: Pasta e Fagioli with Black Eyed Peas, Collard Greens and Proscuitto in the excellent Italian American, written by Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli. Italian American is my go-to cookbook, written by the husband and wife team behind the acclaimed West Village restaurant, Don Angie. It has been far too long since I set foot in New York City, but you’d better believe that next time I go I’ll be making a reservation for a very special night at Don Angie.

My broth is made from parmesan rinds saved from other parm-y endeavors. They can also be purchased for cheap at most grocery store cheese counters. They make a delightfully satisfying umami broth, with no meat-handling required!

In both the broth and the ‘fazool recipes, the veggies and herbs are mere suggestions. Use whatever you have languishing in your fridge. I keep a quart container of veggie ends in my freezer for broth-making. I especially like using mushroom stems, they augment the umami in veg broths like this one. Similarly, any kind of bean, or shape of pasta, will work in the soup.

Finally, I challenge anyone making pasta fazool to not sing Dean Martin’s That’s Amore audibly the entire time. In my experience it cannot be done.

Parmesan Broth

Yield: 2 quarts

Time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

1. Heat the oil or butter in a large pot. If using bacon or pancetta, cook until the fat is rendered and leave the meat in the pot.
2. Add onion quarters and halved garlic, flat side down. Add mushroom stems.
3. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
4. Add carrots, celery, herbs, peppercorns, bay leaves and parmesan rinds.*
5. Cover with about 2.5 quarts water, or enough to cover all the ingredients in the pot.
6. Simmer broth for about 3 hours, adding water periodically to keep the ingredients submerged.
7. Strain through a sieve.**

Recipe Tips:

*The broth can be made with the herbs and parm rinds loose in the pot. But, if you happen to have kitchen twine, tie up your herb bundle. It will make the eventual removal easier. Similarly, the parmesan rinds can be tied up into a little pouch with cheesecloth and kitchen twine. This will keep them from sticking to the pot and make them easier to remove.

**If you are making soup concurrently, simply pour strained broth in when it’s time. If you’re saving the broth for another purpose, store it in two quart containers in the fridge for up to a week. Or freeze it for use within the next few months.

Springtime Pasta Fazool

Loosely adapted from Italian American by Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli

Yield: About 2.5 quarts, feeds about 6

Time: about 1 hour (plus soaking time, if using dry beans)

Ingredients:

1/2lb dried beans (cannelini, navy, pinto, black eyes peas, etc.)

1/2c olive oil

1/4 lb pancetta, bacon, procuitto or other delicious cured meat

1c thinly sliced onion (green, white, red or yellow)

4-6 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1t chile paste (or chopped fresh chilies or ginger)

1T kosher salt

about 8 big grinds of black pepper

2c thinly sliced braising greens (collards, kale, dandelion etc.)

2 quarts stock (parmesan, chicken, veggie, etc., homemade or store bought)

1 large lemon

1/2lb dried pasta (ditalini are traditional, but any small shape or noodle will do)

1. If using dried beans: in a bowl, cover with two inches of water and let soak overnight. If not using dry beans, skip to step 4.
2. Place pre-soaked beans in a pot with at least a quart of water and 1 tsp kosher salt.
3. Allow beans to simmer for about 3 hours, or until “al dente” (cooked through but still a bit firm). Check frequently, as different beans cook at different rates. Alternatively, if making the parmesan broth, tie the beans up into a cheesecloth pouch and simmer with the rest of the broth ingredients.
4. In a large, heavy pot combine olive oil and prosciutto. Cook over medium heat until fat has rendered, about 3 minutes.
5. Stir in onion, garlic, chilies, salt and pepper. Cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
6. Add braising greens and cook until wilted, about 12 minutes.
7. Add the broth and cooked beans to the pot. Simmer again for at least 10min, up to half an hour.
8. In the meantime, bring two quarts of water and 1t salt to a boil.
9. Cook pasta 2min short of the package directions in the boiling water. Drain.
10. Zest and juice the lemon.
11. Turn off the heat under the soup. Stir in the lemon zest and juice.
12. To serve: place about 1/2c cooked pasta into each serving bowl. Ladle soup over top. Top with grated parmesan.

Store leftover pasta and soup in separate containers in the fridge for up to four days. To serve leftovers: reheat the soup on the stove (or in the microwave) and pour over cold pasta in the serving bowl. The hot soup will warm the pasta and the whole thing will equilibrate to eating temperature immediately. Top with a shower of grated parm.