Pasta e fagioli with Romagna giugetti

This old Romagna recipe features distinctive pasta called ‘giugetti’, made by farmers towards the end of winter when supplies ran low.
Ingredients for 6 people
For the pasta
150 g Italian '00' flour
150 g maize flour for polenta
Hot water, as needed
For the broth
2 carrots
1 onion
1 celery stalk
2 vegetable stock cubes, plus a little reserve stock
2 tins borlotti beans
Parsley
Pepper
Grated Parmigiano
Extra virgin olive oil
I drain and rinse the beans.

I chop celery, carrots and onion.

I put everything in a pan and add the two stock cubes.

I add 2 litres water, cover and cook for about half an hour.

Once the vegetables are cooked, I blend with a hand blender. It should be fairly runny.

I add parsley, adjust the salt, cover and rest.

I prepare the pasta.
Italian '00' flour, maize flour and hot water.

I combine the two flours on the work surface.

I mix them thoroughly.

I add the hot water a little at a time.

I knead to a uniform, firm dough, form a ball, wrap in cling film and rest for half an hour.

After resting, I flour the work surface and place the dough on it.

I roll it out, flouring above and below.

I widen and turn it, rolling to about 3 mm thick. Ideally, let the sheet dry before cutting it into little squares.

I generously flour and roll up the sheet.

I slice it as for tagliatelle.

Then into small diamonds.

I separate and flour them, arrange on a tray and dry for about an hour, turning them.

I boil the broth, add the pasta and cook about 15 minutes, stirring continuously as it should be thick and tends to stick. Add vegetable stock if too thick.
I turn off, cover and rest for up to 1 hour.
Before serving, adjust salt and decide how thick you want it.
I serve with Parmigiano, freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of oil.

My guests loved this soup. The texture and flavour of the pasta are distinctive; it should be very thick and creamy.