
Italian Bean Soup with Homemade Maltagliati pasta
- Prep Time: 90
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
There is nothing better than wrapping your hands around a beautiful soulful bowl of Italian bean soup as autumn comes into the air with its cooler temperatures. This soup hosts lovely tender tasty borlotti beans (also known as Romano beans) in a delightful broth made with garlic, peperoncino, mirepoix, prosciutto and aromatics of fresh thyme and rosemary. More so, a comforting homemade maltagliati (oddly cut) pasta that just adds another level of texture and a touch of umami from beautifully aged Parmigiano. This soup is a huge hug in a bowl. Craving some comfort, try this traditional Italian dish! You won’t be disappointed!
Ingredients
Scale
For the homemade maltagliati:
- 50 g 00 flour
- 50 g semolina flour
- 1 egg
For the bean soup:
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp e.v.o. oil
- a pinch of peperoncino
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/4 cup each, finely chopped, celery, carrot, shallot
- 50 g prosciutto, finely chopped
- a crack of black pepper
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 sprig tarragon
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 240 g (1 small can) Romano (Borlotti) beans
- 1.5 liters vegetable broth
- 150 g maltagliati pasta
- 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano or Grana
Instructions
For the maltagliati:
- On a wooden work surface, pile flour and semolina into a mound. Make a well in the center and crack the egg in. Start beating the egg with a fork, gradually drawing in flour from the sides of the well until the egg has been absorbed by the flour. Add a few drops of water if necessary. It will go from rough and messy to nice and smooth. Work it for at least 5 minutes.
- Let the dough rest for 30 minutes covered with a bowl or wrapped in plastic.
- Then, with a knife cut the dough into 4 pieces. Work one piece at a time, keeping the other pieces covered.
- Very lightly flour the board, flatten the piece by pressing with your fingers and start rolling with a rolling pin from the center away from you to the outer edges. Turn the dough a quarter-turn, and repeat, working your way around, stretching as well as pressing down, and adding a little flour to the dough as you roll it out to keep it from sticking. Roll it fairly thin. You could roll the sheets with a pasta machine to make it faster.
- Then, spread the sheets out on a flat surface and let dry for about 10 minutes.
- Using a pastry or ravioli cutting wheel, cut the sheets of dough first into long strips, then cut across each strip at varying angles to form short, uneven rectangles (hence the name maltagliati, badly cut).
- Transfer the maltagliati to a semolina-dusted baking sheet or tray. Dust more semolina on top so to prevent any sticking until ready to add to the bean soup.
For the soup:
- Saute garlic, peperoncino, mirepoix, and prosciutto in evo oil and butter for 3 minutes.
- Add the drained beans, stir, and cook for an additional 2 minutes on medium heat.
- Add fresh herbs and vegetable broth. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Take out herbs and garlic. Remove 1 cup of beans and broth and puree with a hand blender. Pour back into the pot. Bring to a boil then add the fresh pasta. Cook for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente.
- Turn off heat and let cool a bit.
- Plate and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiano or Grana Padano. Enjoy!