The Pasta Faggioli. courtesy of Dan Fink and Lisa Bloss

We moved to Maine in 2015. We’re from Illinois and spent the majority of our lives living in Chicago. For a dozen years, we lived in the Avondale neighborhood near La Villa, a classic Italian family restaurant, banquet hall and pizzeria. It’s the kind of place that is embedded in the community, hosting wedding receptions, baby showers and birthday parties. The last meal we ate before leaving Chicago was at La Villa. And whenever I visit Chicago now, I always order La Villa pizza (the cracker-thin kind, not the deep dish people associate with Chicago).

My husband Dan’s La Villa menu favorite was Pasta Faggioli. It’s a pasta dish made from white beans in wine sauce, and it goes well with a Peroni beer. We liked it so much, we started making our own version at home as a quick, tasty weeknight meal. We’d sauté garlic and herbs in olive oil, add a can of beans and some fresh spinach or chard (which is not in the La Villa version), let the mixture cook until the pasta was ready, and then mix everything together. It has been a staple in our house for years.

One of the few bright spots of the pandemic lockdown was having more time to prepare our meals. Our version of Pasta Faggioli is one of the meals that benefited from this slowdown. Instead of quickly sautéing the garlic and herbs and dumping in a can of cannellini beans, we (by we, I mean Dan, since he’s the one that most often prepares this dish) now take the time to watch, listen and smell the cooking process. Adding a small amount of time to our meal preparation has made all the difference. We use the same ingredients as always, but the dish tastes more layered and complex, yet still comforting and familiar.

As I was checking my references for this column, I discovered that La Villa no longer has Pasta Faggioli on their menu. I hope our version does it some justice.

The Pasta Faggioli underway. Photo courtesy of Lisa Bloss and Dan Fink

La Villa–inspired Pasta Faggioli

The restaurant listed this dish as Pasta Faggioli on its menu, and while clearly different from the better-known Pasta e Fagioli soup, it is equally delicious. Use whatever pasta shape you like here. We usually use rotini.

½ pound dry pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1 (15-ounce) can of cannellini beans
1 bunch fresh spinach or chard, roughly chopped
¼ to  ½ of a lemon
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
Red pepper flakes

Get the pasta going, according to the package instructions, and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Wait for it to shimmer, then add the garlic. After the garlic releases its fragrance, less than a minute, mix in the herbs and let cook for 2-3 minutes. Rinse the beans and add to the pan. Cook the mixture about 5 minutes, letting the beans brown ever so slightly.

The sauce for the Pasta Faggioli has thickened, when you can run a spoon over the pan and the sauce doesn’t immediately fill in the bare spot. Photo courtesy of Dan Fink and Lisa Bloss

Gradually add water, about 1 cup in total. (You can also use white wine if you have an open bottle on hand). Give the herbs, garlic and beans a chance to mingle and relax to create a thick creamy sauce, 7-10 minutes. Once a spoon can part the sauce without it running back onto itself, add the spinach (or chard) and slowly mix. When the greens are wilted yet still bright green squeeze in some lemon juice, add salt and pepper to taste and a splash of the pasta water if needed to keep the sauce creamy. Finally, incorporate the cooked pasta.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.

Lisa Bloss and Dan Fink. Courtesy of Lisa Bloss and Dan Fink

MEET THE COOKS, Lisa and Dan Bloss

When we moved here, my husband and I had no ties here, no family or treasured memories of Maine summers. We chose Maine and Portland because of the natural beauty of the state, which is within easy reach of the amenities of the city. We’re both in our mid-50s. We have a cranky senior dog and no children. I’m a user experience researcher at a software company, and Dan is a picture framer and an artist. We live in the Oakdale neighborhood.

Dan and I cook for each other. Dan does a bit more of the cooking than I do, but I also bake (mostly cookies, the occasional cake, and I am still working on how to make a cream pie). Our meals are mostly vegetarian, though we do cook meat during the holidays or over slow weekends, like the super cold one that comes every February. We’ll make one of Dan’s mom’s recipes like choucroute garnie, coq au vin or cassoulet. On an average weeknight, we’ll make quick pasta dishes or steamed kale and couscous (it’s tastier than it sounds). In the colder months our rotation includes soups, quiche, polenta and beans. In the summer, we eat lots of salads and grazing meals – cheeses, radishes, grilled vegetables.

My family is of Polish descent. I haven’t found much in the way of Polish foods in Maine, so I make my great grandmother’s pierogies with traditional fillings, like cheese and potato or prunes, and more unconventional ones like vegan chorizo. I’ve also been experimenting with paczki recipes, since I have yet to find these at a Maine bakery.

Cooking is a way for us to unwind, experiment, be in the moment, and create and enjoy good meals together.