Bean and pasta soup with mussels
The idea of adding mussels to a bean and pasta soup gives a whole new lease of life to an old staple that many a country farmer’s families would have fallen back on time and time again during the winter in the north of Italy: almost an equivalent of baked beans for the English. There are so many handed-down regional recipes for these kinds of soups, which inevitably start rows among Italians as to which is the most authentic. Wherever I travel I am always inquisitive about local ingredients and recipes, and when I was in Tuscany one time visiting some vineyards, the conversation turned to a particular bean soup, which sparked off a whole tirade about the way they made it in one of the neighbouring villages. Apparently, it was an absolute insult, when the only difference was the addition of sage. That is how deep the sentiments about soup can run in Italy!
In this case I don’t remember how we first came to add the marjoram, but its delicate, aromatic character bridges the flavours of the beans and the mussels perfectly. If you don’t have any ditalini, you can use up broken bits of spaghetti, and you can add a dash of chilli oil at the end, if you like. In the summer it is also good if you allow the soup to cool down before serving.
To prepare mussels:
Scrub the shells really well under cold, running water, removing any beards. Discard any mussels that are open or that won’t close if you tap them against your work surface. Once cooked, discard any that haven’t opened.
If a recipe calls for clams, prepare them in the same way (though of course they don’t have beards!)
Serves 6
dried borlotti beans 800g, soaked overnight (or, if you can find them, 1.6kg fresh beans in their pods)
olive oil 100ml
leeks 2 medium, chopped
shallots 3, chopped
carrot 1, chopped
celery 2 stalks, chopped
garlic, 3 cloves, whole
fresh rosemary 2 sprigs
tomato purée, 1 tablespoon
mussels 800g, cleaned
white wine 35ml
small pasta, such as ditalini 500g
fresh marjoram, 2 tablespoons, plus, a little extra for garnish
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a little extra virgin olive oil
1 Put the dried (or freshly podded) beans into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes–1 hour for fresh beans, and around 1–1ó hours for dried beans, until they are just soft. 2 Transfer three-quarters of the beans to a blender with a little of their cooking water (reserve the rest) and blend to a soup consistency. 3 Heat the olive oil in a separate pan, add the leeks, shallots, carrot and celery, and then the garlic and rosemary. Cook gently for 2 minutes, add the tomato purée and cook for another minute, then lift out the garlic and rosemary and discard them. 4 Add the reserved beans with their cooking water, along with the blended beans. 5 Put the mussels into a large pan with the wine, cover with a lid and cook over a high heat, shaking the pan a couple of times, until the mussels open (they will release their own liquid as they do so), then take off the heat and keep to one side.
Discard any of the mussels that haven’t opened, then shell around 15–20 of them, leaving the rest in their shells for garnish. 6 Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling salted water for about 2 minutes or according to the packet instructions, then drain and add to the bean soup along with the shelled mussels and some of the reserved liquid from cooking them. Transfer to a large, warmed serving bowl. Add the marjoram, taste and season. 7 Add the mussels in their shells (the soup will be thick enough for them to just sit on top) and garnish with the extra marjoram. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and finish with black pepper
