After years of eating various versions of pasta e fagioli, I recently came across an excellent recipe in the Trattoria Veneta in Milan, where peasant dishes from Veneto are served to the sophisticated Milanese. The pasta e fagioli was decorated with leaves of red radicchio, over which was laid half a hard-boiled egg. I was surprised by both. The owner told me that the soffritto (fried mixture) in the soup was based on radicchio, hence the decoration, while the egg was ‘for nourishment’. After all, it was a peasant soup which would have been the only course for the contadini of Veneto. He also told me to mash the egg into the soup and mix it up. So I tasted, and once again I was pleasantly surprised, this time by a slightly tart flavour. ‘Aceto’, the owner said. ‘Aceto?’ I queried. ‘Eh si, signora’ – vinegar to counteract the fattiness of the lard with which the soffritto was traditionally made, and it makes the beans more digestible. Now the lard has been replaced by olive oil for health and diet reasons.
Serves 8
450 g (1 lb) dried borlotti beans
2 floury potatoes, cut into large chunks
2.25 litres (4 pints) vegetable stock or water with bouillon powder
sea salt
1 head of red radicchio, about 200 g (7 oz)
150 ml (1/4 pint) extra virgin olive oil
1 celery stalk with its leaves, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 tbsp good red wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
225 g (8 oz) small tubular pasta, such as ditalini
90 g (3 oz) freshly grated Parmesan
4 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and cut in half
Soak the beans overnight in cold water, and then rinse and drain them and put them in a stockpot, preferably earthenware, with the potatoes. Cover with the stock or water to which you have added some vegetable bouillon powder, such as Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon powder. Bring very slowly to the boil with the lid tightly on. Dried beans will take at least 1 hour to cook.
When the beans are soft, purée about two-thirds of the beans and the potato in a food mill or a food processor and return the purée to the pot. Taste, add salt and bring the soup back to the boil.
Remove 8 of the larger outside leaves from the radicchio head and wash them. Set aside. Cut the rest of the radicchio into small strips, and wash and dry them.
Put about two-thirds of the oil, the celery, onion, parsley and shredded radicchio in a frying pan, add a pinch of salt and sauté over a low heat until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add to the soup together with the vinegar and cook for 15 minutes. Season with a good grinding of pepper.
Add the pasta to the soup. If the soup is too thick, add a little hot water before adding the pasta, but remember that this type of soup should be quite thick.
When the pasta is just done, draw off the heat, mix in half the cheese and allow the soup to stand for 5 minutes before serving it. Pasta in this kind of soup does not need to be al dente. Ladle the soup into soup bowls and pour over the remaining oil. Float the reserved radicchio leaves on the soup and lay half a hard-boiled egg over each leaf. Serve with the remaining Parmesan separately in a bowl.
preparation
The soup, without the pasta, is best prepared 1 or 2 days in advance and refrigerated. It also freezes very well. The pasta must be added just before serving.