Pasta fazool, or pasta e fagioli, quite literally translates to "pasta and beans", but it's so much more than that. It's a bowl of comfort seasoned with nostalgia and a heavy sprinkle of history. And while there are many ways to make it, and many ways to pronounce it, one thing is consistent: it's always delicious!

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What is pasta e fagioli?

The only requirement for a dish to be called pasta e fagioli, or pasta fazool, is to contain pasta and beans.

There are many variations but the most common combination is a small-shaped pasta, such as tubetti/ditalini, or elbows, and cannellini beans, navy beans, or borlotti beans.

Some versions will be soupy, while others will be thicker; some may include pancetta, while others will be vegetarian.

Some variations of pasta fazool will include tomato, while others will be "in bianco".

I've eaten many variations throughout my life, and each time I make it I change it up ever so slightly.

No matter how I make it, we always enjoy it and find it ultra comforting.

Why do you pronounce it "pasta fazool"?

I've been pronouncing this dish "pasta fazool" my entire life but I never understood the linguistic background until recently.

In the Neapolitan dialect, fagioli, the Italian word for beans, is fasule; in Sicilian, the word is fasulu.

Considering the fact that most of the Italian immigrants that came to the US are from Southern Italy, that would explain why many here in the US call it pasta fazool.

In this episode, we dive a bit deeper into the linguistic and culinary backstory of this amazing dish!

Resources

Sip and Feast Pasta e Fagioli Recipe

Sip and Feast Sausage Pasta Fagioli Recipe

Sip and Feast Pasta e Ceci Recipe

Sip and Feast Pasta e Patate Recipe

Sip and Feast Pasta e Lenticchie Recipe

Sip and Feast Garlic Butter Roast Chicken Recipe

Philosokitchen History of Pasta Fazool

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Transcript

Intro

James (00:00):Welcome back to the Sip and Feast podcast, episode number 19, I believe this is?

Tara (00:04):18.

James (00:05):Thank you, Tara. This is pasta fagioli or pasta fazool, or pasta and beans. This is a discussion of one of the most quintessential Italian dishes and definitely an Italian-American favorite. And we're going to go into, again, the little bit of history in there, how to make it really good, and we'll share a couple personal stories about pasta fazool. How's that sound, Tara?

Tara (00:32):Sounds good.

James (00:33):So what are we doing next?

Let's describe it

Tara (00:34):Let's talk about pasta fazool. Let's describe it, maybe, for folks who aren't familiar with it, because I think for many people, even if they live in this area, they might not have actually had it. They may have heard about it because it is kind of a thing in pop culture. It's been in songs. Like that song I think everybody knows. That's Amore. One of the line's in it when something starts to drool like pasta fazool.

James (01:04):Oh, really? Yeah, that's right.

Tara (01:05):Yeah. So anyway, I think it would be helpful if you take a few minutes and describe it.

James (01:12):We'll go more into detail later about it, but it's simply, at its core, pasta and beans. Think of this dish as typically done with white beans, sometimes other types of beans, but it's a small pasta, beans in a broth. Some people will make it brothier, some people will make it more thick. Really a peasant dish.