One of the things I love about living in Virginia is that we actually have winter here.
As much as I loved the Georgia Lowcountry, its version of winter was brief and left a lot to be desired for someone who actually enjoys cold weather. Yes, I realize that a mild, short cold season appeals to a lot of people. But the tradeoff is summers that are long and brutal, with air so humid and thick that one can almost chew it.
Here in Southern Virginia, winter is relatively mild, but consistently colder, and lingers until just before the spring equinox. We usually get at least one good snow, which always has the good grace to melt before we get tired of it. And while temperatures may dip into single digits, they don't get stuck there. It's just right for the kind of comfort cooking that I love best, lots of warming soups, stews, pastas, pot roasts, and casseroles.
One favorite of those comfortable dishes is bean soup, probably because my father loved it, so it was a winter staple of my childhood. We didn't call it soup: it was just "a pot of beans," and very simple, flavored only with a ham hock, a chopped onion, and salt. We added pepper or hot sauce at the table and ate it with hot, buttery wedges of skillet cornbread.
That's probably why my first bite of pasta e fagioli, the Italian version of bean soup, felt as familiar and comfortable to me as a favorite old sweater. Plus, it had pasta in it, so it offered not one but two of my favorite comfort foods, and quickly became one of my go-to cold weather warm-ups.
My Pasta and Bean Soup, or Pasta e Fagioli alla Damon
Because it's just the two of us, we eat this over several days, so I don't cook the pasta in the soup, but prepare only as much as we're going to need for a single meal in a separate pot (see step 3). It'll of course have a little more flavor if it's cooked in the soup, but if it's not eaten as soon as it's cooked, it absorbs too much moisture and gets flabby and even mushy.
Cranberry beans are my preference for this, but when I can't get them, my father's favorite pintos make a very nice substitute.
Serves 6
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground chuck
Salt
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced small
1 large rib celery, strung and diced small
1 large carrot, peeled and diced small
1 large or 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and minced
6 cups homemade meat broth or 2 cups beef broth, 2 cups chicken broth, and 2 cups water
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 rounded teaspoon crumbled dried
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 rounded teaspoon crumbled dried
1-2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups cooked cranberry beans (see notes below), or pinto beans
Whole black pepper in a mill
8 ounces ditalini or small elbow macaroni
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1. Put the oil in a 4-5-quart heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. When it's hot but not smoking, add about half the beef and cook, crumbling it with a fork or spatula, until it just loses its raw, red color. Remove it with a slotted spoon, and repeat with the remaining meat. Lightly season it with salt. Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of fat, and add the onion. Sauté until translucent and colored pale gold, about 4 minutes, then add the celery and carrot and sauté until they're softened and the onion is golden but not browned, about 4 minutes longer. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about half a minute.
2. Return the meat to the pot and add the broth, tomato paste, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaf. Raise the heat and bring it to a simmer, then adjust the heat to a gentle simmer and cook at least 20 minutes (longer won't hurt it). Raise the heat once again and add the beans, season to taste with salt and pepper, and bring it back to a boil. Adjust the heat to a gentle simmer and cook 10-15 minutes longer.
3. If not serving all the soup at once, skip to step 4. If you are serving it all at once, stir in the pasta and raise the heat until the soup comes back to a boil, then adjust the heat and cook, stirring occasionally to keep the pasta from settling to the bottom and sticking, until it's done to your liking, using the package directions as a rough guide. Skip to step 5.
4. If you're not serving all the soup at once, bring 2 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a separate pan, stir in the pasta (about 1/3 cup per serving) and a spoonful of salt, and cook until it's al dente. Drain and, if not using it all right away, toss with a drizzle of olive oil.
5. To serve the soup with the pasta cooked separately, put ½ cup of cooked pasta into a warm bowl and ladle the soup over it. To serve soup that has had the pasta cooked in it, simply ladle it into warmed bowls and serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese passed separately.
To Soak and Cook Dried Beans
A pound of dried cranberry or pinto beans yields about 6 cups of cooked beans, so for 4 cups, you'll only need just under 11 ounces (2/3 of a 1-pound bag). I usually just cook all of them and use the extra two cups of beans for something else.
I know there's a lot of "scientific" back-and-forth about whether it's necessary to presoak dried beans. My own experience is that soaking them makes them cook a lot faster and helps them hold their shape better. Do what you like. Sort through a pound package of beans, to remove any debris and bad beans. To soak them overnight (the easiest way—you just put them together and go to bed), put them in a large glass or stainless steel bowl and cover them with cold water by at least 2 inches. Let them soak at least 8 hours.
Quick-soak method: If, like me, you've not planned ahead and need to soak them in a hurry, put them in a heavy-bottomed stainless steel or enameled pot, cover with cold water by at least two inches, and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Adjust the heat to a lively but not hard boil, boil 2 minutes, and remove the pan from the heat. Cover and let them soak for 1 hour.
I use the soaking water to cook the beans but others drain them and use fresh water. Put them into a heavy-bottomed 3½-4-quart pot, with enough water to cover by two inches. If you have really hard water, add a pinch of baking soda or use distilled water. Put it over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil, then adjust the heat to a steady simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are almost tender, about 20-30 minutes if they've been presoaked. Season well with salt and continue cooking until tender, about 10-15 minutes longer. Turn off the heat and let them sit in their cooking liquid another 10-20 minutes to allow them to absorb the seasoning.