Pasta e fagioli

Pasta e fagioli is a traditional dish for which there are recipes throughout all Italian regions, and although there is no official recipe, there are numerous regional variations of the dish. Most often, the dish is made with beans and small varieties of pasta, cooked in a base of olive oil, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, and stewed tomatoes, or a broth which can be vegetarian or meat-based. Pasta e fagioli can have a soupy texture, but sometimes it is much thicker, depending on the regional variations. The dish started as a meal of the poor people and as a replacement for the expensive meat. In the past, it was mostly consumed as a winter soup because it is healthy, inexpensive, and filling. Today, it is consumed throughout the country, and in Veneto, pasta e fagioli is often enriched with pork and potatoes, while in Naples, it is very popular to eat it reheated the next day, because it is believed to taste even better.