Inevitably we come around to the No. 1 staple dish for all Italians and Italian-Americans,  not to mention a few million Brazilians and Argentinians whose Italian ancestors boarded boats for the U.S. that ran off course.

Macaroni and Beans, best known as “pastafazool,” is the subject on the agenda today.

Skipping the tiresome discourse and getting right to the bottom line there are two paths to pasta e fagioli.

The first is to buy a can of cannellini beans,  a can of sliced button mushrooms,  a can of cream of chicken soup,  a can of chicken broth together with two cups or so of precooked elbow macaroni, a pasta variety found in every food cabinet on the planet.  The cans are opened, the mushrooms drained, the elbows made ready,  and then all is tossed into a big sauce pan,  heated and served.  This process takes maybe 20 minutes.

The second is to reach for your apron,  pour a glass of Chianti Classico, take a deep breath and then follow the instructions below translated and assembled from two reliable web sources in Tuscany,  the  reported place of origin of the soup in question:

Pasta e Fagioli

For 4-5 kids plus 2 adults

• 1 lb. fresh cannellini beans soaked overnight in cold water
• 1/2 small cabbage
• 1 cup rehydrated porcini mushrooms otherwise one cup assorted fresh mushrooms from the store roughly chopped
• 1 chicken or beef bouillon cube
• 1 cup tomato sauce or 1 tbsp. paste plus one cup water
• olive oil as needed
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/2 celery stalk
• 1 large garlic clove
• about 1/2 box little pasta shells cooked in rapidly boiling salted water for five or six minutes, removed from the water with a slotted spoon and set aside with a tablespoon of olive oil to prevent sticking (apparently elbow pasta is frowned upon in Florence)
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook beans in sufficient water to cover. Simmer until well done.  Puree’ half the beans with a cup of cooking water and set aside.  Save remaining cooking water.

Finely slice the cabbage and set aside.  Mince the onion,  garlic,  carrot and celery. Saute the three vegetables in a 6 qt stock pot with 1/4 cup olive oil and a tsp. of salt until softened thoroughly. Then add the mushrooms and stir until softened.

Add the pureed beans plus two cups of the remaining cooking water. OK so far?

Add the chicken or beef bouillon cube,  the tomato sauce or paste,  salt and pepper to taste and cook until cube is entirely dissolved,  5 minutes or more.  I recommend dissolving the cube ahead of time with a 1/4 cup of water and microwaved.

Add the shredded cabbage, the remaining cannellini, 2 more cups of the beans cooking water and cook for an additional 20 minutes. If necessary substitute beans’ cooking water with hot tap water or chicken broth.  Add more broth or water if needed.  Consistency of the soup is your choice.  Check for salt and pepper.  (Now kill the 20 minutes by enjoying the aforementioned Chianti Classico).

When all is done toss in the previously cooked little shells and mix well at high heat for a few minutes.  Sprinkle some parmesan or romano on top,  remove apron and pour another Chianti Classico.

Not that bad.

Obnoxious note:  In one of the Italian web recipes they puree’ all the beans.  This is goofy.  If the dish is called ‘macaroni and beans’ one would expect to see both some whole beans and the pasta in the final presentation.  I have fired off a memo to the authors.