How Long To Cook Your Pasta For The Best Pasta E Fagioli

Pasta e fagioli is an Italian-American family favorite, hinging on pasta and beans to provide comfort and sustenance, but its origins are in Italy, where it's a staple of the cucina povera cooking philosophy. The term literally translates to poor or peasant cooking, and its recipes use minimal (yet high-quality and nutritious) ingredients that are often zero-waste. These recipes originated during tough times, but they remain an important part of Italian and Italian-American gastronomic culture. Matthew Cutolo, third-generation Italian-American chef at Gargiulo's Restaurant in Coney Island, gave us his tips on how to master the humble pasta e fagioli, and his first tip involves how to cook your pasta just right.

Pasta is the last ingredient that's added to pasta e fagioli before it's taken off the stove; per Cutolo, you should add it directly to the pot. While you could cook your pasta separately, this will leave you with an additional dirty dish, and it won't allow your pasta to absorb all those hearty flavors, like rosemary, garlic, and pancetta. You want it to be as flavorful as possible, so let everything mingle for the dish's final minutes on the stove. "The pasta should be cooked until it is al dente. About 8-10 minutes," he continued.

To prevent overcooked pasta, make sure that the soup itself is nearly done and that you're happy with its taste. That way, you can focus on the doneness of the pasta. Otherwise, you might end up with a mushy mess — and nobody wants that.

Along with being simple and flavorful, cucina povera dishes are also incredibly versatile. They stress utilizing the ingredients and tools you already have, so don't overthink it. This rule applies to pasta e fagioli too, and the best shapes to use for it. "In Naples, we use pasta mista, or a mixed pasta," Matthew Cutolo said. "However, you can also use ditalini." Adding to that suggestion, there is no "correct" pasta shape to use for pasta e fagioli. It depends on what you like and what consistency you're looking for.

Ditalini pasta is the most common shape for pasta e fagioli, and we use this in both our classic pasta e fagioli and our vegetarian recipe. Because it's so small, it creates a nice bean-to-pasta ratio. Alternatively, as Cutolo recommends, pasta mista is a regional choice often used in and around Naples. This is a good choice if you've got a handful of multiple pasta shapes — just be careful, because each shape's cooking time might vary slightly, which can affect your pasta's texture.

Mezze maniche, farfalline, and conchiglie are all good choices for your pasta e fagioli, but again, work with what you've got. The only pasta shape we'd recommend not using is a spaghetti-like variety. However, if this is all you've got, you can break the noodles into smaller pieces so that they're easier to enjoy.