How To Make Croatian Pašta Fažol (Pasta and Bean Soup)

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Post author Mate

Written by our local expert Mate

Mate is Croatian and owns a transport company in the Balkans, he has visited over 30 countries. He is an expert on all things transportation as well as food and wine.

Pašta Fažol (pasta and bean soup) really is a wonderful Croatian recipe that is great for the colder months of the year. You might know it as Pasta e fagioli from Italy. It’s quite hearty, tastes delicious, and because it keeps in the fridge for a few days, you can take a few day’s break from cooking.

Croatian Recipe Pasta Fazol Pasta and Bean Soup | Croatia Travel Blog

Growing up, my mother would make Pašta Fažol on a regular basis, and it was always a hit in our house. I was intrigued by the seashell pasta (conchiglie) and loved the munching on the kranski sausage.

I hope you enjoy Pašta Fažol as much as I do.

 

Coatian Recipe Pasta Fazol | Croatia Travel Blog

Pasta And Bean Soup Recipe (Pašta Fažol)

Pasta and bean soup - known as pašta fažol in Croatian is a Croatian recipe that my mother taught me a long time ago, and now I share it with you.

Ingredients

  • 400 g dried white beans or red kidney beans (2 cups)
  • 100 g smoked pork bones (3.5 oz)
  • 3 Kranski sausages
  • 5 L of water (21 1/4 cups)
  • 2 carrots, cut into 2cm chunks
  • 2 medium potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes
  • Olive oil
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 150 g pancetta, coarsely chopped (2/3 cup)
  • 1 tsp. smoked paprika
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
  • 1/4 bunch of parsley finely diced
  • 1 tsp. tomato paste
  • 60 g pasta, I like shells but you can use any short pasta (2/3 cup)
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. The night before you plan to cook this dish you need to place the kidney beans in some water to soak overnight. Soaking will rehydrate the beans and soften them
  2. Place some olive oil into a pot and fry the onion and pancetta on medium heat. As the onions start to change colour, add the strained beans along with the smoked bones and sausage
  3. Fill with cold water and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes
  4. Add the potatoes, carrots, garlic, parsley, tomato paste & paprika
  5. Continue to cook the beans until they are soft. The time is variable based on your choice of beans
  6. Add the pasta and season and cook until the pasta is ready
Photo is thanks to the talented Tracy BenjaminCroatian Recipe Pasta Fazol Pasta and Bean Soup | Chasing the Donkey

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Comments (11)

  1. This looks divine. I wanted to recommend it to my vegetarian daughter who is a vegetarian, until I saw the ingredients with pork and sausage.

    1. It is. In fact the weather is super cold here today and we cooked it for lunch. As for the pork, this gives the dish its flavour, however, maybe you could make a pork free version and see how it turns out. We’d love to hear how it turns out.

    2. Rhonda. There is a recipe for punjene paprike (stuffed peppers) that I have converted to vegetarian. I took out all meat & added more rice plus vegetables such as Aubergine (eggplant), onion, carrot, parsley. Very tasty!

  2. I just made this for the first time. My husband’s grandmother Cvita Vukelja (née Begonja) also had a similar recipe (minus the garlic). Maybe you guys are related?

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