This summer, create memories, not
bills Sponsored by Best Western The
pasta fagioli recipe is a southern
Italian, Old World style soup. This
type of Italian cooking has been
going on for over a thousand years,
standing the test of time and
palette and is still delicious to
this day. Southern Italy, like an
Italian pasta soup recipe, is a
blend of all things good. You can
see it in the faces of the people
and not just melted into the
flavors of the food. It's a mixture
of Greek, Arab and Spanish thrown
together in a pot. The final
outcome? Perfection in a bowl! The
name of this soup recipe, called
'Pasta e Fagioli' has evolved from
dialect to dialect as Italians
immigrated from Italy to America,
mostly congregating in New York.
Over time the name of the soup was
added another flavor - the Italian
American flavor. Slang for this
Italian pasta recipe became pasta
fazool, pasta fazoo, and pastavasu.
Ultimately, it's a pasta and bean
soup. Fagioli (Pha-gee-oh-lee) is
the Italian word for bean. The
bones are what make the beans
tender and add flavor to the soup.
In fact, the meat traditionally
used in pasta e fagioli soup was
pork. Yes pork, those grunting,
snorting muddy little creatures
that find those delectable and
expensive truffles that we foodies
love so much! It's also the
predominant meat in Italy and is
food to be respected. Much like the
word, the soup recipe has evolved
as well. It wouldn't be unusual for
neighbors to pass along from door
to door the same meat bones or even
a prociutto bone to be used over
and over again, adding flavor to
the soups being made in the
kitchens of friends and family
within a small town. They took what
ingredients were available to them
to create something nutritious,
healthy and good, and I mean really
good. Using those ingredients to
feed family, friends, and sometimes
even neighborhoods. It's the sense
of family, tradition and a true
respect for life and the good
things in it that Italians are most
known for, food being very high on
that list. So when you find
yourself sitting at an Italian
table and you see this masterpiece
being served along with a loaf of
crusty bread, a chunk of parmigiano
and a drizzle of Italian olive oil
remember what goes into the makings
of this time old traditional meal.
Things you won't find on the list
of ingredients but make this
Italian pasta soup much, much more
then just a meal. SERVINGS: enough
for 4 hungry Italians or 6 normal
people
