Bean Basics

Legumes were the ultimate comfort food in Roman times, and they remain an essential element in modern Italian cuisine. From Tuscany’s classic bean soup made with creamy white cannellini beans to the famous green lentils of Umbria, no region is lacking in iterations of favorite minestre and paste e fagioli.

“Beans are the meat of the poor man,” wrote Pellegrino Artusi, author of the Italian classic Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. It is certainly true that beans were a major player in la cucina povera, infusing protein into the diet of the poor while stifling hunger pangs and providing affordable and nutritious sustenance. Today, they are an integral component of the canon of Italian cuisine, beginning with the fresh harvest in June, when markets overflow with brilliantly hued varieties sold shelled or still nestled in their pods. Fresh beans, sometimes labeled “shelling beans” or “shell beans” in the United States, are available for only a short time. The rest of the year, cooks rely on dried or canned beans, although dried beans have superior flavor and are more economical.