Pasta and beans: the Neapolitan recipe and tips for making it “perfect”

The pasta and beans it is one of receipts oldest in our history. A great classic of Italian food which has its roots in the poor peasant tradition. It is also one of the few “unitary” dishes of our nation: although having a genesis in the hinterland of Campania and Lazio, we can find very similar pasta and beans also in Calabria, Basilicata, Sicily, Puglia and in the North, between Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Piedmont, Veneto, Lombardy.

The most classic versions are those of latin valleyprepared with the to bend down (kind of short noodles made from fresh water and flour) and the pancettais it Neapolitanwhose main characteristic is the creaminess.

The Neapolitan pasta and beans is on the spot, or attached, because the pasta is cooked with the legumes, so as to release all the starch present in the ingredient: you will thus obtain a creamy and enveloping dish. Two other versions were born in the capital of Campania: one of meat, with pork rind, and one of fish, with mussels. The pasta and fasul classic neapolitan instead vegetarian, without any type of animal protein. Let’s see the recipe that chef Raffaele Cardillo offers us and all the tips to best prepare this hot and hearty pasta dish.

The recipe for pasta and beans

Prepare a mixture of carrots, onions, garlic and celery 1. Fry everything in extra virgin olive oil 2add peeled tomatoes 3 or Pachino cherry tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.

In another saucepan, heat the oil and brown the pre-cooked or dried beans soaked the day before 4. Add water 5 and join the tubes too 6: separately in a saucepan, it is useful to always have boiling water in case the pasta needs to be cooked further.

Halfway through cooking the pasta, add the sautéed vegetables 7 to the pasta and mix. Once cooked, add the chopped parsley 8. Leave to rest for a few minutes and serve: add a fillet of evo and ground pepper. Neapolitan pasta and beans are ready to be served 9

Advice

You can prepare pasta and beans with the canned beans or with me dried beans. If you use dried beans, soak them the day before in natural mineral water; in the morning wash them well and cook the beans in a pot without ever losing the boiling point.

You can replace the parsley with herbs of your choice, such as Timo, lemon thyme oh fresh basilic.

storage

Pasta and beans are a dish that can be eaten very well even the day after its preparation: just close it and put it in an airtight container and put it in the fridge, maximum for 2 days. To make it creamy again, heat the pasta and beans in a pan with a little water and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and stir over low heat.