Pasta e Fasioi, The Classic Venetian Soup for Deep Winter

Burning the old year, news from Venice, Christmas menu and a hearty soup of beans and pasta to see us through the deep winter months.

Happy New Year and welcome to Dash of Prosecco, a newsletter dedicated to good food, slow travel, and life on the mainland of Venice. Thank you for reading.

Over the past two days, hundreds of bonfires have illuminated the night skies of the Venetian countryside.

Villages, cities and towns celebrated new beginnings by gathering around flaming pyres of wood, set ablaze to burn the past year to ashes.

On the Venetian mainland, one name for this annual Epiphany celebration is panevìn, literally “breadandwine”—a shared wish for abundance and merriment for the year to come, conveniently bottled into a single word.

Recently, the panevìn tradition has been the target of criticism due to its environmental impact. The Venetian Plain being the extremely polluted area that it is (fact) does not need more black smoke suspended in its air, critics say. This January, too, several municipalities have called off the ritualistic fire and replaced it with laser shows and repurposed Christmas markets. However, I wonder if there might be smarter ways to reduce pollution that do not involve targeting once-a-year local traditions that bring people together.

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One of the many Nativity scenes that Venetians set up around the lagoon come Christmas time.

Snapshot of the lagoon South of Venice, Christmas Eve 2023.

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With the arrival of 2024, Venice is setting new resolutions to tackle the issue of overtourism: starting this month, a system for monitoring and charging day-trippers during high season peaks will be put in place. Also, group sizes will be capped at 25 people, half the capacity of a standard tourist coach, and the use of loudspeakers will be prohibited (yay).

Opinions regarding the entry fee vary. Most citizens, me included, don’t believe Venice should be turned into a theme park with admission tickets. More attention needs to be directed towards the exodus of Venetians: the depopulation of the city driven by factors like an unfriendly real estate market and a chronic lack of daily life services, such as neighborhood doctors.

Will the proceeds of the entry fee be used to the advantage of the local population, for example by funding easily accessible and affordable housing options? Our current mayor does not come with the cleanest record when it comes to transparency. Who will really benefit from charging tourists? These are the questions we ask ourselves on the first days of 2024.

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The charming trattoria on the Valpolicella hills where we enjoyed our Christmas lunch (not our table).

On a merrier note, and continuing the tradition of last year’s January post, our Christmas lunch was a success.

Usually, we spend the big day at my in-laws' place, here in Mestre—the mainland part of Venice. But this year, I managed to organise a visit to my side of the family (’tis the season of miracles).

Some very buttery tagliolini with local truffle.

On a crisp Christmas morning, we left coastal Venice and drove to a rustic trattoria up on the lovely Valpolicella hills, near Verona (this girl is half veronese, you can call me Juliet).

The view from the trattoria was beautiful, the air bright. Stepping inside we were welcomed by a roaring wood stove and chequered table cloths the colours of winter oranges and lemons. Waitresses sported red sweaters and the food and athmosphere was homely and cheerful.

My chosen Christmas menu included:

• Buttery tagliolini with local truffle.

• A slab of melted, smoked scamorza cheese accompanied by a soft mound of polenta and wild mushrooms.

• Sides of gratinated fennel, bitter herbs, and oven-roasted potatoes.

• And to finish off, a bowl of timeless vanilla affogato…

• … followed by a criminal amount of panettone

It’s always time for affogato.

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With a few more weeks before the Carnival madness takes off—with all its confettis, masked balls and fried treats—we’ll be relying on a really good soup for extra warmth as the darkness of deep winter sets over the lagoon and countryside.

Pasta e fasioi is a hearty soup of beans and pasta that’s most popular in this area during the colder months. The Venetian version has three key features:

• Main ingredient: traditionally, we use Lamon beans, a type of borlotti bean from northern Veneto. Because they can be expensive and hard to find (due to small-scale production and their seasonal nature), I often use regular borlotti as a substitute.

A local and very ancient variant of borlotti, Lamons take their name from the Lamon valley, in the north of the Veneto region, where they are grown. The valley lies near the picturesque mountain town of Belluno, with plenty of hiking trails and agriturismo (farm stays) where you can buy the fresh or dried beans directly from the producers and enjoy a different, less touristy side of the Veneto Dolomites. The fresh beans can be found at local farmers markets from late August until end of September, dressed in beautiful red and hot pink-flecked shells (see photos below).

• Texture: the soup should be mostly puréed, with a ladleful of beans left whole.

• Pasta: crushed sheets of lasagne, ditalini, short round pasta in general.

Everything else may change slightly or a lot. Some add lard or pancetta, others use an array of herbs and spices, like cloves and bay. You may or may not want a bit of tomato sauce in your bean soup. Opt for a splash of white or red wine, or none at all. You could go for a soffritto of onion, carrot and celery or just use a bit of onion and, maybe a hint of garlic. You get the gist!

Fresh Lamon beans from the farmers’ market, September 2022.

Dried Lamon beans (left) vs fresh Lamon beans (right).

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RECIPE: Pasta e Fasioi, The Classic Bean and Pasta Soup from Venice

Don't believe anyone who says there's only one way to make pasta e fasiosi. In Veneto, every family, restaurant, and trattoria has its unique recipe.

My version is completely vegan (just skip the grating of Grana Padano) and utterly flavourful. It features a classic soffritto¹ of carrot, onion and celery, a bit of garlic, red wine, tomato sauce and sometimes a sprig of fresh rosemary.²

This recipe calls for fresh or frozen borlotti, but dried borlotti are also fine (soaked overnight)³. If you can, do use the fresh or frozen ones, as they yield a smoother, less floury texture and a sweeter, fresher taste.

Not all old things should be left behind when the new year rings in. This recipe for pasta e fasioi is among the treasures that stay put in our household, no matter the number on the calendar. I hope you’ll like it as much as we do.

Serves 2

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Ingredients

• Onion, 50g (1/3 cup)

• Carrot, 30g (1/4 cup)

• Celery, 20g (1/4 cup)

• Evo oil, 20ml (1 1/3 tbsp)

• Fresh or frozen borlotti beans, 400g (2 cups) - shelled (160g dry / 3/4 cup)

• Red wine, 30ml (2 tbsp)

• Boiling water, 1lt

• Garlic, 1/2 clove (adjust to your liking)

• Tomato sauce, 2 tbsp (or 1 tsp tomato paste)

• Salt, 1/2 tsp

• Pasta, 30g (1/8 cup) - ditalini or crushed lasagna sheets

• Optional: sprig of rosemary, preferably fresh

• Optional: grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano cheese to top

Utensils

• Stick blender

Method

1. Prep the veggies for the soffritto: finely chop the carrot, onion and celery. If you own one of those handy mini choppers, use it!

2. Pour the evo oil into your favourite soup pot and let it warm for a few seconds on medium heat.

3. Add the chopped veggies and give it a nice mix so they're nicely coated in oil. Gently fry them over low heat until fragrant and translucent, about 3 minutes. Put a kettle of water on to boil.

4. Add the beans to the pot and mix well. After two minutes deglaze with the red wine, cover with boiling water, add the tomato sauce and cook, covered, over medium-to-low heat until the beans are almost ready (if using fresh beans, about 20 minutes).

5. Add the salt, garlic and rosemary if using, and cook until the beans are melt-in-your-mouth tender, about 10 more minutes.

6. Reserve a ladleful of beans and remove the rosemary, then blend the rest until smooth.

7. Thin out the resulting soup by adding about 200ml more boiling water. Bring it to a gentle boil and add the pasta, mixing every now and then, ensuring it doesn’t stick to the pot. Cooking the pasta in the soup without additional water can take too long and may result in a sticky texture. Alternatively you can cook the pasta separately.

8. When the pasta is ready and the soup has thickened slightly, tip in the reserved beans and serve piping hot, topped with a grating of Grana Padano cheese and a grinding of pepper.

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FREEZER LIFE-SAVER: For a quick midweek dinner, I keep most ingredients ready in the freezer: a bag of frozen beans, a few sprigs of rosemary, cubes of red wine, and a supermarket-bought bag of chopped soffritto mix. Plus, I keep tomato paste in the fridge. All of these make it possible to prepare a meal in 30 minutes—a real lifesaver. If you're preparing soffritto from scratch, consider making extra and freezing it flat in a ziplock bag.

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About Me

My name is Sinù Fogarizzu and I’m a vegetarian food & travel writer from the mainland of Venice, Italy. In 2021, I launched Dash of Prosecco, a Substack newsletter about learning to cook and Venetian cuisine, that has now expanded into slow and sustainable travel. With the new “Slow Venice” column I hope to open up a space for dialogue on ways we can all contribute to a healthier tourism model for the floating city. Browse my archive and recommended newsletters and come find me on Instagram & Twitter.

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1

Soffritto is a cornerstone of Italian cooking consisting of a fragrant base of finely chopped carrots, celery, and onions sautéed in evo oil or butter. It serves as the essential flavor foundation for many Italian dishes, such as ragu (bolognese) and other pasta sauces, as well as stews and braises.

2

Other variations of pasta e fasioi might include ingredients like pork rind and lard, laurel leaves, and cloves. In some recipes, the traditional soffritto mix is replaced entirely with shallot or a clove of garlic. Red wine and tomato sauce may give way to white wine.

3

Using dried Borlotti: soak them overnight and adjust the cooking time and amount of water. Dried beams takes longer to cook and need more water than the fresh type.