Perfect Recipe for Neapolitan Pasta e Fagioli con Ceci e Cozze
Once again we have the privilege of turning a blog post over to Chef Roberto Pisano for another installment of his fantastic Italian recipes which always remind us of why Italian is the most loved cuisine in the world.
Enjoy Roberto's story and get inspired for your next amazing meal, Neapolitan Pasta e Fagioli con Ceci recipe...
A Colorful Spin on a Southern Italian Classic . . . Neapolitan Pasta e Fagioli con Ceci e Cozze, or simply, Pasta e Ceci with Mussels.
I grew up in a southern Italian household where the aromas of traditional Neapolitan and Calabrian cuisine filled the kitchen on a daily basis, and none more fondly remembered than my grandmother’s Pasta e Fagiol. I’ve been making the dish as well for years, so it was natural to expect that while visiting Naples recently the smells emanating from the family-run trattorias and osterias in the city’s Spanish Quarter stimulated senses rooted in nostalgia and the comfort of home cooking. What else does one do but head to any mom and pop osteria in the alley (they’re all good, by the way) and order up a hearty serving of "Cucina Tradizionale Napoletana" in a bowl. My appetite was satisfied, my desire fulfilled, and the dish was as tasty as any I’ve had before but lacking in just one thing - - visual excitement. It was then and there that I decided to take a creative spin on the classic and make it “my own” and one I’m happy to share here with you.
An alley in Naples’ Spanish Quarter, where countless family-run Trattorias and Osterias serve up traditional Neapolitan cuisine
And now, our version:
The recipe that follows is about two things . . .
Giving your own spin to a traditional recipe while respecting the intent of the original, and making the most of your pantry, thereby turning an otherwise time intensive dish into a manageable weeknight meal that is still “dinner-party” worthy.
You can go “old school” if you like, preparing your beans from scratch and sourcing your mussels from the local fish market, but for the home cook with time constraints who still has discerning standards and high expectations for results I have found that canned ceci and good quality frozen mussels work admirably well in this recipe. In a respectful nod to the cucina povera ethos embodied in the traditional approach which makes use of any unused “bottom of the box” pastas in the pantry or pasta drawer, we will replicate that approach with a colorful array of assorted and shapely varieties of short pastas in roughly equal measure. You can use whatever you have on hand, even going with just one pasta type, just make sure to use a short pasta or any longer variety broken by hand down to size.
For this recipe you will need:
1 lb short pasta, any type or mixture of comparably sized varieties requiring comparable cooking times. Here I’m using a combination of multi-colored Lumaconi, Casarrece, Farfalle with Squid Ink stripes, and Ditalini.
3 dry pints of mixed Cherry Tomatoes, halved.
2, 15oz cans Ceci (aka garbanzo beans or chick peas), drained and rinsed but with the bean liquor reserved. (Alternatively, the commonly used Cannellini or Borlotti Beans work here as well).
3 oz Smoked Provola or Provolone, finely grated.
2 lbs frozen Mussels.
Splash of White Wine.
Olive Oil for cooking.
2 cloves Garlic.
1 sprig Rosemary, and . . .
2 Bay Leaves
In a pan you’re proud to bring to the table when the dish is finished we begin by flavoring our Olive Oil by heating 2 cloves of Garlic, split in half, on medium low heat with the Rosemary and Bay Leaves. Remove all the ingredients when they have flavored the oil, about 3 minutes or so.
Add the drained and rinsed Ceci (chickpeas) to the pan and cook over medium heat until lightly browned. This will accentuate the nutty flavor of the beans, adding depth to the final dish.
Add the halved Cherry Tomatoes to the pan and cook them down until softened and reduced into a loose sauce. We cut them in half because whole Cherry Tomatoes tend to burst when cooked and create a mess you’ll just have to clean up later.
Add 32 oz water, or twice the volume of our pasta, and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, add the Mussels and any of the natural juice they were packed in to a separate stock pot fitted with a steamer basket and bring 1/2 cup of water to a boil. Cover and let steam for 4 minutes, then set aside for an additional 4 minutes. Frozen mussels come fully cooked in their own juices so here we’re just warming them through and collecting any additional released juices into the bottom of the pot. Reserve the liquid at the bottom of the pot and set aside. After the Mussels have cooled enough to handle reserve a handful in their shells for garnish, removing and reserving the meat from the shell of those that remain.
Add the Pasta to the now boiling mixture in our main pot, reduce to a steady simmer, and cook for 8 minutes.
Add the reserved meat from the shelled Mussels.
Add a fine grating of Smoked Provola or Provolone.
Combine all the cooked ingredients off heat then arrange the un-shelled Mussels in a pleasing pattern . . .
. . . and behold a plated dish that respects tradition while being elegant by any modern measure.
I hope you enjoy this inspired interpretation of a southern Italian classic. And remember, any cooking experience is greatly facilitated and enhanced by using the right tools for the job which is why I favor the functional artistry embodied in Fontani Knives from Coltellerina Fontani.
Buon appetito,
Chef Roberto Pisano
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