Italian Pasta and Bean Soup with Orange and Fennel
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Appears in Cook's Illustrated March/April 2003
The American version of pasta e fagioli is often bland and mushy and takes hours to prepare. We wanted it all: great flavor and proper texture in less than an hour.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
To develop a pasta and bean soup recipe with great flavor and proper texture in less than an hour, we cooked some bacon and pancetta and then cooked our vegetables in the rendered fat. We discovered other quick flavor boosters: Adding the t...