Learn how to make a delicious twist on Pasta Fagioli with sausage instead of pancetta. Each spoonful of this soup is filled with creamy beans, pasta, and bites of Italian sausage. It’s absolutely delicious, hearty, and full of flavor!
Pasta e Fagioli is one of my favorite soups of all time. I shared an authentic version a year ago, and it’s always the soup I crave when I don’t know what to cook for dinner!
It wasn’t until I went to the restaurant Via Carota in the West Village recently that I had a dish called Fagioli all’ucculletto. The dish mainly consisted of beans, sausage, herbs, and some tomato – it was delicious. And reminded me so much of pasta fagioli that I decided to experiment and bring some of those flavors into my favorite soup! Turns out adding sausage to pasta e fagioli was an excellent idea, and I am not sure which version I love more.
The sausage adds a ton of flavor to the entire soup, and, paired with the creamy borlotti beans, little bites of pasta, and a touch of tomato and herbs, is perfection. It’s much heartier and more filling than my authentic pasta e fagioli because of the additional protein! You can also do half sweet and half spicy for a little kick of heat, or even use chicken sausage to make it healthier. Either way, I truly hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!
Ingredients
For full measurements and instructions, view the recipe card below.
Italian sausage – I used sweet Italian sausage; you can also use mild or half spicy and half sweet for a kick of heat.
Beans – I used Italian borlotti beans, which are traditionally used in pasta fagioli, but you can also use cannellini beans in place. Half of the beans are blended to create a creamy consistency.
Onion and celery – Both are used to add flavor to the whole soup. I like to make sure these are both diced small, so they blend seamlessly into the soup and the main ingredients can shine!
Garlic cloves – fresh garlic is used for flavor!
Parmigiano Reggiano rind – This hard outer layer of Parmigiano Reggiano is known as the rind. I love using this in soups to infuse flavor! It will soften, not dissolve, so you can discard it once the soup is finished.
Red pepper flakes – for a little kick of heat. You can add more or less depending on your preference!
Rosemary sprig – I like to use a fresh sprig of rosemary to infuse flavor, but you can use dried rosemary instead.
Plum tomatoes – I only use a small amount of plum tomatoes, hand-crushed into small pieces so they blend seamlessly in with the other ingredients.
Chicken stock and white wine – I only use a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan (you can leave this out if you prefer no alcohol), it also adds great flavor to the soup. The rest of the liquid is chicken stock.
How to Make This
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1
Cook the sausage. First, cook the sausage in 2 Tablespoons of oil breaking up the sausage into pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook until no longer pink. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage into a bowl lined with paper towels.
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2
Sauté the onions and celery. In the same pot, sauté the diced onion and celery with a healthy pinch of salt. Cook until soft, then add the minced garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds with the vegetables.
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3
Add the sausage and deglaze the pan. Add a splash of white wine to deglaze the pot and add the sausage back to the pot. Cook the sausage with the wine for 1-2 minutes along with the rosemary sprig and red pepper flakes.
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4
Add the beans, bean puree, and chicken stock. Then add half of the beans, Parmigiano rind, crushed tomatoes, pureed beans, and the remaining chicken stock with a generous pinch of salt and black pepper. Partially cover and cook for 20 minutes.
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5
Add the pasta. Add the pasta to the pot, stir frequently, and cook for about 15 minutes with the soup or until the pasta is fully cooked. Taste, add any extra pinches of salt if needed, then serve!
Tips for Success
Cooking the pasta with the soup will add creaminess. I know it’s common to cook the pasta separately for pasta e fagioli to make things easier and avoid overcooking the pasta, but I recommend cooking it with the soup. The pasta releases starches as it cooks, helping create a creamier consistency for the whole soup! It tends to stick to the bottom of the pot as it cooks, so I recommend stirring frequently.
Make sure you get the bean ratio correct. Since the portion of beans is divided in half, I always like to make a note to make sure you don’t blend too many beans. That way, you have the right amount to create thickness for the consistency and enough beans for texture in the soup.
What to Serve it With
We love to serve this soup with a crusty bread like Drew’s Country Sourdough or my Rosemary Garlic Bread! If you like a soft bread, these dinner rolls are also insanely good and go great with soup. If we aren’t making bread, we love serving this with homemade pizza. 🙂
Pasta e Fagioli with Sausage
Video Tutorial
Ingredients
- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
- 1 diced medium to large yellow onion
- 1 diced large celery rib,
- 5 minced garlic cloves
- 1 large rosemary sprig
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 splash of dry white wine, or swap for chicken stock
- 1 medium to large parm rind
- 1 cup plum tomatoes with the juices, hand crushed into small pieces
- 28 oz cooked borlotti beans or cannellini beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 3/4 cup dry ditalini pasta
- salt & black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Blend half the beans. Divide 14 ounces of the rinsed and drained beans, transfer them to a blender with 1 cup of chicken stock, and blend until creamy. Set aside for later.
- Brown the sausage. In a large Dutch oven, cook the sausage in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until no longer pink, using a flat wooden spoon to break the sausage into bite-sized pieces. Once the sausage is browned, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Set the sausage aside.
- Saute the onion and celery. In the same pot, cook the diced onion and celery with a generous pinch of salt until soft (about 3 minutes). Add the minced garlic and cook for another 30-60 seconds. Add a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan, then add the sausage back in along with the rosemary and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1-2 minutes with the wine.
- Add the stock and simmer. Then add the pureed beans, the remaining chicken stock, Parmigiano rind, crushed tomatoes, and the rest of the beans with a generous sprinkle of salt and black pepper. Partially cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Cook the pasta. After the soup has simmered, add in the pasta and stir frequently as it cooks for about 12-15 minutes or until the pasta is fully cooked. Taste, and add more salt if needed, then serve with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano! Discard the parm rind and rosemary sprig once ready to serve.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m all for leftovers! The soup actually develops some additional character and flavor after sitting in the refrigerator for 24 hours. I recommend reheating in a pan on the stovetop and adding some chicken broth as needed, since it will most likely thicken in consistency. Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
I like to use Ditalini, a small, round pasta, but any smaller shape would work, like small shells or orecchiette.
Borlotti beans are best for this recipe, which are traditional for Pasta e Fagioli. Other white beans, such as Cannellini or great northern, will work as well. You might find your local grocery stores don’t carry Borlotti beans like mine, but I found these by Jovial on Amazon.
Made this today. Truly amazing. Beat my expectations. Going to be on a regular rotation. Thank-you for sharing this gem.
I’m so happy to hear it did, Dave!! I love this soup so much, so I’m thrilled to hear when others enjoy it just as much☺️
This was so good and warming. With the winter storm blowing in through the Midwest, I decided to try this for dinner tonight. I used Great Northern beans (it was all I could find in stores), and mini spinach ricotta tortellini because I couldn’t seem to find small soup pasta in the stores near me either, and these were tiny, plus, I thought it would add even more flavor. I also did add the splash of white wine (how could I not?). It was hearty and wholesome. Everyone in my family loved it. My husband said it was good enough to make a dead man rise out of the grave just to have a bowl. 😂
Your husbands comment made me laugh out loud😂 thats quite the compliment! And glad you could use the small tortellini in it I bet that was a nice addition. Thank you so much for sharing, Sarah! Means a ton you enjoyed it. Stay warm!!
Wow!! It’s a flavor bomb! I just made it. It’s delicious and easy to make. Thank you for this delicious recipe. I’ll be making this again. I’ll try your bread recipe with it next time.
Lucy, that means so much to hear you loved the flavor so much! I’m truly so happy because I feel the same about this soup 🙂