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Italian Bean Soup with Fresh Pasta
This is not your typical Italian bean and pasta soup. It’s a simplified version of a hearty, rustic zuppa we tasted at Trattoria dai Mugnai in Monteveglio, a village outside of Bologna. Short, wide ribbons of fresh pasta float dumpling-like in a creamy bean puree subtly flavored with garlic and fresh herbs. If you have a piece of Parmesan rind, simmer it with the beans; it releases savory flavors into the broth. For weeknight ease, we use canned Roman beans (also known as borlotti beans or cranberry beans). If you cannot find canned Roman beans, pintos, which have a similar color and texture, are a fine substitute. If you own an immersion blender, you can use it to puree the beans directly in the saucepan without first cooling the mixture for 10 minutes. Whichever type of blender you use, if you added a piece of Parmesan rind to the pot, remember to remove it before pureeing.
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t use dried pasta for this soup, as it will not cook properly. Fresh pasta is key. Look for wide, ribbon-like noodles such as pappardelle, tagliatelle or fettuccine and cut them into 2-inch lengths before use. If you can find sheets of fresh pasta, they work nicely, too—simply cut them into rough 2-inch squares. Don’t puree the beans until completely smooth; leave them with some texture.
40 minutes
Ingredients
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2
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
-
1
medium yellow onion, chopped
Directions
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01In a large saucepan over medium, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and ¼ teaspoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the tomato paste darkens slightly and begins to stick to the pan, about 3 minutes.
Reviews
December 4, 2025
A unique and satisfying bowl of comfort!
Loved this! Made a few adjustments based on other reviewers: used veggie stock (better than bullion) instead of water and used an immersion blender in the pot. Then, added a squeeze of lemon and a big handful of spinach at the end. Topped off the bowls of soup with a dollop of pesto (I get a jar at Costco - amazingly good, and makes it easy to add to anything!) along with the olive oil and parm at the end which added a little more depth and herby-ness. Made some "soldiers" of rosemary sourdough with garlic butter to serve with it -- mopped up the bowl nicely!
October 26, 2025
great comfort soup
This was so good! I added a little chicken bullion (or stock) for extra flavor. Next time I'm going to try it with vegetable stock to for a vegetarian soup.
January 18, 2025
Top 10 Soup!
Easy to make, amazing flavor, awesome, simple, comforting.
January 16, 2025
Bean making this soup over and over
Used both sage and rosemary for extra flavor and it's just so good! Subbed for pinto beans like suggested, and definitely use the parmesan rind, it adds such a good taste.
January 3, 2025
Very simple, delicious and satisfying as a weeknight meal
I made this recipe as is, only had to substitute the beans for canned cannellini beans. The flavor was still fabulous and the color looked the same as the picture on the recipe. The noodles seemed to continue soaking up the liquid, so it was no longer a soup the next day but was still very flavorful. We will definitely make this a part of our regular weeknight dinner rotation.
My soup was not thin enough, it ended up being more like spaghetti with bean sauce. I used dried Rancho Gordo cranberry beans, so the flavor was amazing.
Hi Christine -
This recipe was developed for canned beans. It should still work with cooked, dried beans but if you try to cook the beans in the soup, there won't be enough water to compensate. Also, make sure to use *fresh* pasta, not dried. Again, there isn't enough water to account for cooking dried pasta.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Delicious. I followed the recipe exactly as written. My first bowl was definitely soup consistency. However, it thickens fairly quickly. While waiting for it to cool to store in the refrigerator, it had already thickened to more of a pasta dish with a heavy bean sauce. I'm not complaining. The flavors are so good. Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.
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Excellent! Easy, hearty and flavorful. Followed exactly, used sage and the Jovial brand jarred Roman (Borlotti) beans. I think the parmesan rind is definitely worth adding too.