Taglierini in beans

A typical recipe from the Massa area, where it’s called taiarin n’ti fasoli.

Ingredients for 4 people:
1/2 kg fresh borlotti bean (or 2 hg dry beans)
Half a Savoy cabbage
2 potatoes
1 onion
1 zucchini
1 celery stick
1 garlic clove
Parsley
Basil
1 tablespoon tomato sauce or 1 ripe tomato
1 hg lard (possibly from Colonnata)
Olive oil
Salt

For the pasta (taglierini):
3 hg flour
Water
A pinch of salt

Preparation:

Wash and chop the cabbage, carrot, zucchini and half an onion, then bring to a boil with the beans in lightly salted water. Chop the other half of the onion, celery garlic clove, parsley, basil and lard, then sauté in another pot; when the vegetables are browned, add the chopped tomato or the tomato sauce and a bit of water. When the vegetable and bean mix is cooked, strain the veggies into the other pan, add the water used for cooking – leaving half a glass of whole beans to the side – and re-boil the broth.

Add in the taglierini, which are better if made by hand because the dough is more porous and soaks up the cooking broth better; the dough must be soft and elastic before rolling it out to ½ cm thick and cutting into long strips.

Lastly, add the remaining whole beans. Once the pasta is cooked, let it cool slightly, salt to taste and serve on a plate or in a shallow bowl (the broth should be dense and creamy).

This dish is delicious even when reheated the next day in a pan lined with a bit of oil.

You can add an extra dash of extra-virgin olive oil, or if you want to exaggerate, lightly crush some black pepper, half a clove and half a nutmeg. The dish will be much more aromatic and have a unique taste.