Rachel Roddy's innovative recipe for pasta e fagioli introduces a delightful fusion of Italian tradition and Thai-inspired flavours, featuring coconut cream, spring onion, chilli, and lemon. This bean and pasta dish, a staple across Italy, has long embraced regional variations, but this version takes a bold step into international culinary territory.
Embracing Culinary Evolution
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Roman publishing house Newton Compton released a series of 27 books on regional Italian cooking, highlighting the vast diversity of the country's culinary habits. From Jeanne Carola Francesconi's extensive La Cucina Napoletana to more concise regional guides, these works celebrate both the specificity and commonality of Italian food traditions.
Pasta e fagioli exemplifies this blend, with versions found in almost every region, each offering a unique take on the simple combination of beans, pasta, and aromatics. In Lazio, it might feature white beans and potato without rosemary, while Piedmont adds lardo, sage, and rosemary, and Liguria incorporates nutmeg, bread, and pasta. This adaptability underscores cooking as a living, evolving art form.
A Chef's Perspective on Tradition and Innovation
Cesare Battisti, head chef and owner of Ratanà in Milan, advocates for a balanced approach to culinary heritage. He emphasises the importance of being custodians of tradition while having the courage to innovate intelligently. Inspired by his words, Roddy's recipe follows the familiar pattern of soaking beans, creating a soffritto, and simmering with water and pasta, but it introduces unexpected elements from Thai cuisine.
The addition of coconut cream transforms the dish, softening its colour to a taupe hue and imparting a luxurious, fresh feel. Battisti insists on a generous amount of chilli for heat, though this can be adjusted to personal taste. The optional lemon juice acts as a bright, surprising spark that elevates the flavours, making it an ingrediente inaspettato or unexpected ingredient.
Recipe for Pasta e Fagioli with Coconut, Spring Onion, Chilli, and Lemon
Serves 4
- 200g dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 3 spring onions, white bulbs diced, green parts thinly sliced
- 1 stick celery, diced
- 1 small carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 fresh red chilli, sliced
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 1 picked and minced, the other left whole
- 2-3 tbsp coconut cream
- 200g tagliatelle, roughly broken up
- Juice of 1 lemon (optional)
Method
- Drain and rinse the soaked beans. In a heavy-based pan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the spring onion whites, celery, carrot, half the red chilli, and all the rosemary. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables soften and turn translucent.
- Add the soaked beans, one and a half litres of fresh water, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour, or until the beans are tender.
- Remove half of the soup, blend until smooth, and return it to the pan. Stir in the coconut cream and season with salt to taste. Return the pan to the heat and bring to a lively simmer.
- Add the broken tagliatelle and simmer, stirring regularly, until the pasta is cooked. You may need to add a bit more water if the mixture becomes too thick.
- Serve the dish hot, garnishing each bowl with the sliced spring onion greens and extra chopped red chilli. Encourage diners to add a squeeze of lemon juice if desired.
As Battisti aptly puts it, "Questi piatti non sono da discutere, sono da provare, dovete provare a rifarli, provate." This translates to: these dishes aren't for discussion, they're to be tried. So, give this recipe a go, and perhaps share your thoughts afterwards.
