Creamy pasta e fagioli with the Thermomix, ready in 30 minutes

Real pasta e fagioli has a creamy, not brothy, base: the trick is blending only half the beans and leaving the rest whole, so the dish stays thick but keeps the bite you see in the photo. The pasta cooks straight in the broth, releasing its starch as it goes.

If blended legumes win you over, also try lentil velouté with croutons: same comfort-food family, even simpler.

Why blend only half the beans

It's the difference between a proper pasta e fagioli and a soup with beans floating in it.

Blending 200 g of legumes together with the sautéed vegetables and the tomato paste gives you a dense, velvety base that coats the pasta: it's the creaminess that the traditional version gets by passing part of the beans through a food mill, and that a lot of people skip, ending up with a watery dish.

The other half, left whole, gives the bite, the contrast that makes the dish interesting instead of monotonous.

Pasta cooked in the broth: the golden rule

Never cook the pasta separately and add it in afterward. Cooking it straight in the bean broth, it releases its starch into the dish instead of down the drain: it's free starch that makes everything creamier.

Use the Soft speed: short pasta is delicate and at speed 1 you risk breaking it.

One practical warning: the pasta keeps absorbing liquid even after you turn off the heat. If you want it more brothy, keep it a touch more liquid than you'd like to serve it, because it settles quite a bit in those 2 minutes.

Canned or dried beans?

This recipe uses already-cooked beans, and that's a deliberate choice: it's a half-hour dish, not a half-day one. Rinse them well under running water to remove the canning liquid, which is salty and has a metallic taste.

If you prefer dried: soak 150 g for 12 hours, then cook in the Thermomix for 40-50 minutes at 100°C on reverse before continuing with the recipe. The flavor is better, the time much longer.

Borlotti or cannellini both work. Borlotti are more flavorful and rustic, cannellini more delicate and creamy.

The raw olive oil isn't optional

It sounds like a garnish for the photo, but it's what finishes the dish. Extra virgin olive oil poured on raw at the end brings a fresh, sharp aroma that cooking destroys, and together with freshly ground black pepper it makes the difference between "good" and "just like it used to be".

Variations

• With pork rind or ribs: added with the broth, for the more traditional, hearty version.
• With rosemary instead of bay leaf, removed before adding the pasta.
• Spicy: a whole chili added with the sautéed vegetables.
• Vegan: it already is, just use vegetable stock powder.
• Gluten-free: works with any gluten-free short pasta, checking the pack for timing.

Storage

It keeps 2 days in the fridge and, like all soups, is better the next day: the flavors have had time to settle. It will thicken quite a bit more because the pasta keeps absorbing liquid, so loosen it with a little hot water or broth when reheating.