Bean and Bacon was a favorite canned soup while growing up. It turns out that the Italians have a version of this with pasta which is significantly better. But starch on starch? Yes!
Pasta with beans (and even pasta with potatoes, a different recipe) is a staple throughout Italy with many regional variations throughout the country. Cannellini beans with a form of pork (pancetta, guanciale, or even thick cut bacon) is a classic. This pasta is perfect for colder weather given its rich, hardy nature.
Arliano Update (Aggiornamento Arliano):
“The Great Flood of 2023” happened and, thankfully, “un-happened” as quickly as it came, at least for us. Ditch management is a big issue where we live. Ditches scar the land for miles surrounding us to capture and re-direct run-off water. It’s a great system if – and only if – the Commune and the owners keep the ditches clear of leaves, debris and branches. We do, and our immediate neighbors do, but many others don’t, which is what caused a back up of our ditches and flooding of our fields. Tom and I spent rain-soaked hours removing branches and plastic farm bins that far away neighbors didn’t secure and ended up in our ditches causing chaos. Thankfully, even with continued rains, after clearing the debris, the next day everything looked normal. Sadly, other parts of Tuscany haven’t been so lucky. So far, our previously submerged garden has bounced back! I harvested half of our butternut squashes so they wouldn’t rot in the wet field. The others are still green so hopefully they’ll continue to ripen.
In other country-living news, we had one of our two septic tanks emptied and probed with a telecamera. They even gave us a thumb drive of the telecamera filming but I can’t imagine ever wanting to watch it. We needed to determine if the two systems were connected or separate. Thankfully they are separate, which will help us to move one for future landscaping and – hopefully – – pool planning.
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Pasta with Cannellini Beans and Pancetta
Ingredients
- 160 grams (about 2 cups) dried short pasta (e.g., penne, rigatoni, ziti, gemelli, fusilli, to name a few). As a rule of thumb, consider 80 grams of pasta per person
- 120 grams (about 3/4 cup) pancetta, guanciale, or thick cut bacon, cubed or diced
- 1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, very well rinsed and drained
- 2 teaspoons rosemary, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to drizzle on the final dish
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red chili pepper (optional)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt for the pasta water
Directions
- Thoroughly rinse and drain the beans and set 1/4 cup of the beans aside for garnish
- In a food processor, pulse the garlic clove, rosemary, olive oil and red chili pepper flakes or ground red pepper (if using.). If you do not have a food processor you can finely chop these ingredients
- In a large pot, bring water and salt to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. While the pasta is cooking, sauté the pancetta in a pan over medium heat until it is crispy. Turn off the heat. Do not drain any fat that has rendered: you will want to keep it for flavor. Set aside two tablespoons of the pancetta for garnish
- Add the beans to the food processor and pulse until it is smooth. It should look like a paste at this point. Depending on the consistency that you desire, add anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the food processor to loosen up the bean paste. Add the bean mixture to the pan with a pancetta. If you do not have a food processor you can mash the beans by hand in a bowl using a potato masher or with the back of a spoon along with the oil, garlic and rosemary
- On medium, reheat the pan with the pancetta and beans. Cook until the beans are heated through, about two to three minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta cooking water. Add the drained pasta to the pan with the beans. Mix thoroughly. If the beans are still too much like a paste, slowly add a little bit of the reserved pasta water at a time until it becomes the sauce consistency that you desire. Divide into serving bowls and garnish with the remaining beans and pancetta
Greg Nelson Cooks 
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