Three Fundamental Techniques of Italian Cooking + Pasta e Fagioli

This quote begins Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, one of the highest regarded Italian cookbooks of all time, 

“Flavor, in Italian dishes, builds up from the bottom. It is not a cover, it is a base. In a pasta sauce, a risotto, a soup, a fricassee, a stew, or a dish of vegetables, a foundation of flavor supports, lifts, points up the principal ingredients. To grasp this architectural principle central to the structure of much Italian cooking, and to become familiar with the three key techniques that enable you to apply it, is to take a long step toward mastering Italian taste. The techniques are known as battuto, soffrito, and insaporire.”  

Clearly the techniques mentioned must be absolutly essential fundamentals for cooking Italian food correctly. So today I have for you a crash course for you, and a traditional recipe for Pasta e Fagioli, a favorite Italian soup. Here’s the run down:

Battuto– Fortunately for novice Italian cooks, this technique is simple. Battuto is a mix of finely chopped parsley, onion and some type of fat (Lard in an older-traditional style battuto, or in more modern times, butter, or olive oil). There is generally a higher percentage of onion compared to any other ingredient in the battuto. Garlic, celery, or carrot may be added to the battuto depending on the dish being made. Whatever the exact mixture used, the battuto is the base of almost every dish regardless of type. The word battuto translates as to to strike or beat, and refers to the technique of chopping the aromatics. This mixture is the first step in adding flavor to a dish.  It is interesting to note this techniques occurs in many other traditions of fine cuisine. French food, which of course has a famed history with food, calls for a Mirepoix (diced celery, onion, and carrot) as the base for many recipes. 

Soffrito– Ties in closely with the battuto. When the battuto is sautéed it becomes a soffrito. This step comes before any main ingredients are added to be cooked. Idealy the onion should be translucent and any garlic a pale gold before moving on to the next step. Burn the soffrito and you might has well sart over, the entire dish is going to taste burned otherwise. The best of Italian cooks will vary the times which various ingredients of the battuto are added to the pan to account for cook time. For example garlic will cook much quicker then onion and should be added after.

Insaporire– is a logical step following the soffrito. Vegetables or other principal ingredients are added to the soffritto base and quickly sautéed. The browning effect of the sautéing allows the flavor of the soffritto to be imparted on the vegetables or meat of the dish, and the high heat brings out a richness in the ingredients that is otherwise lost. This technique is not difficult but novice cooks often fear burning ingredients when working with high heat. 

If you are fairly comfortable in the kitchen, regardless of type of cuisine you’ve probably used some variation on these techniques. And as you know if you’ve ever seared a piece of meat, there is certainly a major change in flavor. Today’s recipe a traditional Pasta e Fagioli  uses all three techniques to impart flavor to a simple cast of ingredients and to bring about a rich, hearty soup.

When Marcella Hazan introduces soup in the Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking she mentions that though soups from across Italy may differ widely they have one common thread: substantiality. You’ll never find a pureed “food processor soup” or “cream-of-anything soup” in Italy.  Italian soups have texture. And I love that! I don’t mind a “cream-of-anything” soup now and again, but I love food that has something to it. I think a lot of other people agree with me because Pasta e Fagioli, perhaps the most famed Italian soup, is widely loved. There are a thousand recipes for Pasta e Fagioli on Pintrest. The chain restaurant Olive Garden has their version of the soup, and bills it as an Italian chili. Though I’m not sure Olive Garden’s recipe is all that authentic, and is perhaps quite “Americanized” this still speaks to our love for all versions of this soup. The version I’m sharing with you today is definitely different then what you find at Olive Garden, it’s adapted from Marcalla Hazan, and I must say she knows her stuff.

So a few tips and thoughts on ingredients before you start:

Now, you’re going to use the techniques we just went through in this post as the base for this soup. Don’t be tempted to skip those steps to speed up the process. It’s worth the little bit of extra effort. I promise you will be repaid in flavor. Soup like most any dish benefits from time and attention to detail. And when today’s flavor adding techniques are used and the time to simmer properly is given this soup is soooo delicious.

This recipe is a great way to use up leftover pork of any sort. You can use ham, pork chops, scraps from a pork roast, whatever. But I will share a secret with you. The absolute best thing for this recipe is to use scraps of meat left on the bone. Toss the whole bone in the pot during the correct step, and just let it stay in there until you are ready to add your pasta. Or never take it out if you have room in your pot. The bone will add so much flavor to the dish. I personally used a ham bone with with quite a bit of meat left on the bone. It made for a really hardy soup.

Pasta e Fagioli obviously calls for pasta. This is a great recipe to use homemade noodles. They really complement the soup. But don’t be afraid to use store bought either. Marcella’s original recipe called for maltagliati. (“In the manufacture of pasta such as tagliatelle, dough is rolled and then cut into thin strips, producing noodles. The excess parts of the dough, generally the edges, are left with irregular shape and thickness, therefore ‘non-homogeneous’ or in Italian, maltagliati. Maltagliati are therefore cut from such scrap pieces of pasta, and differ in shape, size and thickness.”-Wikipedia) If you’ve been working on a pasta making project I recommend using up your scraps for the soup. Why waste good pasta dough? But I actually made this soup prior to starting my pasta making so I used Barilla campanelle. (“Campanelle, Italian for little bells, is a type of pasta which is shaped like a small bell or flower. It is also sometimes referred to as gigli or riccioli. It is intended to be served with a thick sauce, or in a casserole.” –Wikipedia) It worked really well. The shape allows the pasta to really pick up the soup in it’s little crevices. I would say you could really substitute any pasta shape you like, but I would advise picking something with some nice little crevices for the soup to get into. 

I think you guys will be really glad you tired this one. This recipe makes a wonderful first course in the Italian way, or is filling enough to stand alone as a meal with a nice piece of bread (try focaccia!). You’ll be happy to eat any leftovers for lunch the rest of the week too!

 

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References

• Cooking Light, 10 Sautéing Tips
• Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Marcella Hazan
• Serious Eats, How to Make Battuto: The Italian Soffritto
• Maltagliati and Campanelle, Wikipedia