Bowl of Pasta e Fagioli

Judy in Billings is facing a not-so-unusual cooking dilemna - too much pepper and heat in her dish. In this case, the dish in crisis is pasta e fagioli, a hearty bean, pasta, and usually tomato dish that is an Italian staple. Pasta fagioli can tend toward a soup or stew consistency depending on the recipe. As a general principal, battling an over-spiced dish is always difficult and the rule of thumb is to …. make more. Chef Barb recommends doubling the recipe and mixing the two preparations since this dish freezes very well. Or, if the pasta fagioli has been prepared as a stew, you might consider diluting it with more tomato broth and adding some additional pasta and create a more soup-like consistency.

If the flavor of your dish is within the range of acceptably delicious to you but just needs some mediation, add a bit of sweet and/or fat to the broth. Start with a half teaspoon of sugar and and a small portion of the soup and test. If you do not enjoy that taste, try adding some olive oil to the soup. Cook’s Illustrated recently published their results in using both sweet and fat to tone down spice - both helped and both helped equally well. We think that your peppery should be served over some bread that’s topped with lots of parmesan reggiano - the bread and cheese will help. Judy, we hope we’ve been able to help. Do not hesitate to contact the culinary hotline at 1-800-977-1224 to talk live with a great chef about enhancing this, or preparing another dish, anytime.