Experience Tuscany

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Another Tuscan classic that is very much in tune with the winter season is the Pasta and Fagioli recipe. Some mafia movies have spread the southern way of calling fagioli, beans, fasul, which in English has also been spelled as fazool. That recipe has little to do with the Tuscan version of this dish; simpler and lighter, yet just as tasty. For this recipe you should try to get thin and large flat pasta like large tagliatelle made without egg. Crush it a little to end up with a lot of one to two inches pieces. This is done to facilitate eating the soup with a spoon. Some other prefer the entire length and then let each person cut the pasta with the spoon in their plate. You may also get other small kinds of pastas, mixed ones are fine too, but the flat kind absorbs the soup better so you do not get that pasta taste separated from the bean taste while eating it.

Ingredients for 4 people:
- 200 grams of di pasta
- 600 grams of fresh cannellini (white kidney) beans (or 300 grams of dry ones that you will have to soak overnight)
- 4 small ripe tomatoes
- sage leaves, fresh
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves
- fresh or dry rosemary
- Extra virgin olive oil
- salt, pepper
- red hot pepper

Preparation:
Start by boiling the beans in 2 quarts (liters) of salted water with 1 clove of garlic, some sage leaves and 3 tablespoons of oil. When they are tender (cooking time varies a lot depending on the beans, so you will have to attend cooking. But give it at least 1 hour and a half) blend half of them in a food processor or a blender, then put them back in the cooking water with the other beans. In a cooking pan or a skillet, lightly fry 1 gently crushed clove of garlic with 5 tablespoons of olive oil. When it is lightly golden (if you burn it, start over this part) add the tomatoes without the skin. Also add one finger long brach of rosemary and pepper to taste. Let it cook for about ten minutes, then mix everything and add it to the beans in the other pan. Bring to boil and when everything is well mixed, add the pasta in the pot, adding salt and water to adjust flavor and density. Serve when the pasta is cooked accompanying each dish with a swirl of fresh extra virgin olive oil and a little fresh pepper or chili powder.

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