Sagne e Fagioli · Sagne e Fagioli alla Molisana
Molise · pasta · serves 4 · 150 min total · medium
Molise's working-class one-pot — hand-cut pasta, beans, pork fat. The dish that feeds shepherds before the long winter walks.
Ingredients
- 250 g borlotti or cannellini beans (soaked)
- 250 g semola rimacinata
- 130 ml warm water
- 100 g pancetta or pork rind
- 3 cloves garlic
- 200 g passata
- 1 chilli red chilli
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 4 tbsp olive oil
Method
- Cook soaked beans in 2 L water 90 minutes with a sprig of rosemary and pork rind. Save the broth.
- Pasta: knead semolina with water and salt for 8 minutes. Rest 20 minutes. Roll thin, cut into rough 2 cm × 4 cm strips (sagne).
- Soffritto: render pancetta in olive oil. Add garlic and chilli, then passata. Cook 15 minutes.
- Add cooked beans with their broth. Simmer 10 minutes.
- Add sagne. Cook 6 minutes — they should swell.
- Off heat, drizzle olive oil. Serve in deep bowls.