Tuscans are known as "bean eaters" to other Italians, and they surely do eat plenty of beans. Everywhere you go, Pasta Fagioli, or bean soup is on the menu--and every restaurant has their own rendition. One of my favorites is at a small restaurant in Greve in Chianti called Moro on the main drag through the town. The town also as a wonderful salumeria in the town square with terrific wild boar prociutto and wonderful salumi. The town square is rife with other terrific offerings: fresh pecorino, cooking implements, olive oils and local wines. Each Saturday, a terrific farmers' market lights up the square. This soup doesn't come from Moro, but is a compilation of several recipes and restaurant experiences.
Choose your favorite beans (I have never seen a mixture of beans in one soup in Tuscany). The varieties I like best are borlotti or cannelini, but I have used great nothern beans as well. I am soon going to try some more exotic beans I brought back with me from my last visitfrom Italy. Sort beans eliminating ones that look bad and removing stones or other impurities that have escaped the packagers. Soak favorite beans--one or two pounds, overnight in plenty of water. The beans absorb plenty of water so make sure the beans stay covered.
Make a broth or use your favorite broth. Best to do this the day before, or even further ahead. It can be frozen.
One Example:
Fill a stock pot 2/3 full with fresh cold water. Add 3-4 lbs of veal or beef bones and 1 end of a prociutto bone if you can find one. I like to roast them first in the oven to get a little carmalization. Add 3-4 quartered medium onions, 2 halved garlic cloves, 2-3 quartered celery stalks and carrots, 2 tbls of salt, 2 tblsp of peppercorns, 2 bay leaves. I like to cook this broth for 2 hours. Some people make a lighter broth in about 30 minutes. Drain the broth removing the solids. I usually like to let it cool a couple of hours or overnight in the refrigerator. This gets the fat to solidify and float to the top, where you can easily remove it.
Drain beans, and put back in plenty of cold water and cook for about 1.5 hours. You can adjust cooking time and keep them al dente if you will cook the soup for a considerable length after adding the beans. After 30 minutes add salt to the beans. If you do it earlier it will tend to break the beans up.
In a pan heat 4 tbls extra virgin olive oil, one small chopped onion and 2 ounces of finely cubed pancetta. Buy it in a single-piece, not sliced. You can also use the trimmings from the prociutto bone, but I don't like the texture of cooked prociutto. Add tsp of chopped rosemary and, at the very end, a clove of chopped garlic. Saute until limp. One restaurant ended this step by adding some chopped roma tomatoes and continued cooking for a few more minutes. It was great.
Reheat the broth and then add the sauteed vegetables. Now take some of the beans and mash them up. When you put them in the broth, it will give the soup more body. If you cooked the beans al dente, you will need to use a food processor on some of them to mash them up. LEAVE HALF OR MORE OF THE BEANS WHOLE. Now add mashed and whole beans to the rest of the soup.
Continue to cook it on medium, while adding high quality, small size pasta, like small macaroni. When the macaroni is nearly tender, the soup is ready.
I like to add a little nutmeg or ground hazelnuts at this point. Serve it in a bowl and top with some grated parmesiano reggiano, or a pour of high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
