BORLOTTI BEAN SOUP WITH FRESH FENNEL PASTA

  Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
  Difficulty: moderate
  Serves: 4

  INGREDIENTS

• 500 g canned borlotti beans

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 carrot, chopped

• 1 clove of garlic, chopped

• 1 celery stick, chopped

• water or stock to cover

• 3 tablespoons pureed tomatoes (passata)

• salt and pepper to taste

• extra virgin olive oil, to taste

• for the pasta:

• 200 g flour

• water

• 1 tablespoon of wild fennel fronds, finely chopped

• colatura anchovy sauce (fish sauce) or 2 anchovy fillets in olive oil

METHOD

Combine the beans with the vegetables and tomato passata; cover with water or stock. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, prepare the pasta: on a pastry board, create a mound with the flour, and in the middle make a big well. Add the  fennel and just enough water so that you can mix it to make a soft and smooth dough. Add more water or flour as needed, and knead until it is smooth.

Let the dough rest, wrapped in plastic wrap, for at least 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into thin pasta sheets, then cut them into strips, then the strips into lozenges; let them dry, covered with a cloth.

When the soup is ready, season with salt. With a slotted spoon, lift about half of the beans and vegetables out and mash them with a fork or puree with a hand-held blender; return to the soup.

Bring back to the boil and add the pasta, cooking for about two minutes only.

Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a little pepper or chili flakes, and a drizzle of colatura (fish sauce) or finely chopped anchovies in olive oil, smashed with a fork.