(Italian Pasta & Beans)
By: Angelo Biondo
I hope everyone had a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope your holiday season was as devastating to your waistline as ours was. If it was, then I know your festivities were as great as ours. Now, what to do with all those leftovers after the holidays are over and everyone gone home? If your family is anything like ours, you have a ton of leftovers.
As per family tradition, we usually have a turkey for one of the days and a ham for the other, with what seems like no break in meals and snacks between. We had a great baked ham for Christmas and are finally down to the bone. We hate to let go of anything that tastes that great; and, believe it or not, can still get a lot of flavor and couple of meal out of it. We try not to cut too close to the bone, so as to leave a lot of meat around the bone. We’ll want to save it for our Pasta Fagioli.
The recipe actually depends on the size of the bone. If you are using the bone from a whole ham, it should be sufficient for this recipe. If you are using the bone from a half ham you might want to add a piece of salt pork to it or, make ½ the recipe.
A ½ recipe will make about a 4 qt. sauce pan. But if you are a small family or a couple and make a whole recipe it’s still great to freeze for a fast meal at another time. The trick is to cook the ditalini separately, and don’t mix it into the beans until just before serving. This way the macaroni doesn’t break down and get pasty. For additional flavor, save the fat trimmings and juices from the carved ham and freeze until you’re ready to make the Pasta Fagioli.
Recipe
Ingredients:
1 large ham bone (and the trimmings if you saved them)
1 medium onion (diced)
3 cloves garlic (sliced)
2 stalks of celery (chopped)
¼ c. (4 tbsp) olive oil
1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 small piece salt pork (1/4 to ½ lb. - optional)
Salt (to taste) – remember both the ham and salt pork are salty, we usually don’t add salt to it
1 tsp crushed oregano
½ tsp. ground black pepper (fresh ground from a pepper grinder is best – to taste)
1 lb pkg. large cannellini beans (dried)(large lima beans can also be used)
1 lb pkg. chick peas (dried) also called garbanzo beans
1 lb pkg. ditalini pasta
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Grated parmesan ot Romano cheese
Directions:
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Start with soaking the beans overnight in a large stainless steel pan. Dump the beans from both packages in the pan and soak in cold water for a couple of hours. Change the water, cover and soak for several more hours, or overnight. You can substitute with 3 12 oz. cans of each. The dried beans are preferable because they seem to hold their form better. The canned beans break down easier and seem to melt or disappear into the soup.
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While beans are soaking, pour the 4 tbsp. of olive oil (1/4 c) in the bottom of a small frying pan and sauté the onion and garlic at a low heat. When onions start to get translucent remove from heat and set aside.
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Place the ham bone (and optional salt pork) in a large stainless steel soup pan along with the trimmings from the carved ham if you saved them. Cover with water and bring to a boil.
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Add the sautéed onions, garlic and celery and let boil for 10 minutes
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Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 2 hours, adding water if necessary to keep the ham bone covered with water
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Drain the beans and rinse thoroughly.
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Leaving the ham bone, in the water, add the beans, seasoning, crushed tomatoes and additional water to cover ingredients. (hold off on the salt until you taste it)
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Raise the heat and bring to boil again, stirring from time to time to keep from burning the bottom of the pan.
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When soup starts to boil, lower the heat and let simmer for several hours, or until the beans start to breakdown, thickening the soup.
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Remove the bone from the soup, strip the meat, chop and stir back into the soup.
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Cook the ditalini in a separate pot and drain.
Serving:
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Using a ladle, place 1 scoop ditalini into a bowl and add 1 or 2 scoop of beans.
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Sprinkle with grated parmesan or Romano cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, and serve piping hot, with crusty freshly sliced warm Italian bread.
Store the remainder in plastic freezer containers. The cooked pasta can also be refrigerated and stored in a plastic zip-lock bag for several days. If you store the beans in a container big enough for 1 or 2 servings, all you need do is place in a pan, (with a little water), bring to a boil over a medium heat, and add the ditalini right out of the zip-lock bag, the beans will be hot enough to heat the macaroni in short order.
Copyright © AngeloBiondo.com™ (Dec, 2008)
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