Slow Cooker Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (2024)

Seems to me using a can of tomatoes (not sauce), a chopped onion (not powder), and foregoing garlic powder (given the prescribed multiple cloves of actual garlic) would pretty clearly give you a soup that tasted a whole lot less like it just came out of a can.

I hate to read cranky notes. That said, this is pasta fa*gioli only because it has pasta and beans. The recipe I grew up with is easy and fast: sauté garlic clove(s) in olive oil, plus 3-4” stalk of celery tops. Add tomato sauce (16z) and half as much water. Add fresh basil, S&P. Simmer 30”. Add can(s) of Navy or Great Northern beans. Simmer 30”. Cook ditalini and add before serving. Grated Romano cheese a must. Also red pepper flakes to taste if you need heat. Peasant comfort food at its best.

There's a reason for not adding tomatoes sooner. If you add tomatoes at the beginning, the acid will keep the beans from softening.

Instead of soaking my beans, I wash, cover with water by 2 inches, bring to a boil, boil for 15 minutes and then let soak for an hour. I find it equivalent to soaking overnight.

I never have success with beans in slow cookers, and despite soaking them overnight and cooking them in a relatively new slow cooker, and despite a simmering broth, after 8 hours, the beans were still dry and hard as a rock. I have cooked soaked beans in my Dutch oven on the stovetop successfully numerous times and for years. And no, I haven't had these beans in my pantry for decades--granted, they're supermarket beans and not Rancho Gordo beans, but nevertheless, I can cook beans on the stove.

This was actually pretty good; the smell was fantastic while it cooked all day, and the beans turned out really well. The overall taste was good but not outstanding. The addition of green beans felt a little out of place to us.

The dish is meant to be mild in order for children and sensitive folks to enjoy. In Calabria we add a bit of Calabrian chili oil and lots of grated pecorino. Drizzle with olive oil if your not having the grated cheese. I like mine with diced potatoes instead of pasta. My nonna added Swiss chard no celery. Three bay leaves and rind of cheese for,flavour. Fresh ground pepper and olive oil were my fav toppings as I wasn’t a big cheese fan.

A simple switch of chicken stock to vegetable stock and this is a vegetarian meal!

That is just an insane amount of garlic--Italians would never use that much in this kind of dish. In fact, they wouldn't use 1/5 as much. Maybe 1 clove, left whole, and then possibly removed.

I can't believe that the recipe says to discard the Parm rind after cooking the beans. Cut it up and it's the Chef's treat.

Recipe worked perfectly for me, no changes. I soaked the beans overnight with just water - no salt. Cooked on low for 6 hours, high for another half. Beans were perfectly cooked.

I frequently make whatever-I-have-around soup (I'm sure most of us do this) and this recipe tracks almost exactly to what I most often end up with! I always appreciate recipes like this, because when I make it up as I go along I often feel like I don't get the seasonings quite right - and I'm not likely to use an entire head of garlic, which sounds divine. Look forward to trying this one.

Carrots and green beans in pasta e fa*giole? Not in any authentic recipe. Cannelini or cranberry beans, onion, garlic, pancetta, celery, Italian tomatoes, stock, ditalini, herbs and olive oil. Finished off with Pecorino Romano cheese. That’s it. We’re not Olive Gardening it.

I followed the directions using cranberry beans from Rancho Gordo - the soup tasted great but the beans were still undercooked and hard even with an overnight soak.

This was fantastic. Made it as written except didn't add green beans. It was delicious enough that my 12 year old son filled up on a bowl before we headed out for trick-or-treating! A perfect cold-weather soup. And the freshly grated parm was the perfect topper.

Half recipe, start 11:50

This was great. I used large cranberry beans, cooked it on about 107c overnight, let it sit during the day, then heated it, added fresh tomatoes, tom paste and the pasta. At the end I added a bag of fresh spinach. Really, one of the best meals I’ve adapted since cooking in Europe.

Here’s a cranky note. Why would the author say the beans should reach a simmer and cook until tender to be safe to eat. Does that mean they aren’t safe to eat until they’re tender? I tasted them after four hours of cooking. They weren’t tender. Should I go to urgent care? These kind of incomplete instructions are maddening!

Not sure why some people had trouble cooking the beans in the slow cooker. No problems here! Just followed the recipe.

I have to agree with others that this soup is just ok. I did not use the powders, there is already enough garlic. I added red pepper flakes but still the flavors were lacking. I won’t make this again.

Either parboil beans or set slow cooker on high all day.

Carrots and green beans in pasta e fa*giole? Not in any authentic recipe. Cannelini or cranberry beans, onion, garlic, pancetta, celery, Italian tomatoes, stock, ditalini, herbs and olive oil. Finished off with Pecorino Romano cheese. That’s it. We’re not Olive Gardening it.

For those having issues with beans not getting soft in their slow cooker, I think I’ve figured it out (at least for mine in particular). Despite turning it up to high for 8 hours, I never got a simmer. I moved the soup to a pot on the stove and boom, the beans are the perfect texture after a quick simmer.

The dish is meant to be mild in order for children and sensitive folks to enjoy. In Calabria we add a bit of Calabrian chili oil and lots of grated pecorino. Drizzle with olive oil if your not having the grated cheese. I like mine with diced potatoes instead of pasta. My nonna added Swiss chard no celery. Three bay leaves and rind of cheese for,flavour. Fresh ground pepper and olive oil were my fav toppings as I wasn’t a big cheese fan.

I used a chopped onion and 24 ounce can of tomatoes instead of the tomato sauce. Also used a whole pound of white beans. I subbed dried thyme and basil because that is all I had. I also used spinach instead of the beans that I added at the very end. It could have used another 5 cups of broth, but there was no more room in the slow cooker! It turned more like a pasta dish than soup. I topped with pine nuts. Although not much like the recipe mentioned here, turned out quite delicious!

Added spicy ground Italian sausage, used 1/2 an onion instead of powder, left out garlic powder and tomato paste, added 6 cloves instead of 10, added 1/2 tsp Old Bay. Forgot to soak beans the night before, so boiled for 3 minutes and left them to soak while covered for 1 hour. It was all a hit with the family.

I made this in a pressure cooker and it worked well cooking on high for 5 minutes. I added spinach at the end and sprinkled toasted breadcrumbs on top for a bit more flavor.

Question. Will this freeze well, or will it turn to mush? I'm not much of a cook, so please, don't laugh! As a singleton, this is a lot of food.