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Roman-Style Pork and Beans

Fagioli con le cotiche (Roman-Style Pork and Beans)

Ingredients

  • For simmering the beans:
  • 500 g 1 lb. dried cannellini or borlotti beans
  • A garlic clove
  • A sprig of fresh parsley
  • Salt
  • For simmering the pork rind:
  • 250 g-500g 1/2-1 lb. pork rind, depending (see Notes)
  • A stick of celery
  • 1/2 medium onion in one piece
  • Salt and pepper
  • For the tomato sauce:
  • 250-500 g 1/2- 1 lb. canned tomatoes, depending (see Notes)
  • 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • A handful of parsley finely chopped
  • Lard or olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Soak the beans overnight. Simmer the beans in fresh water to cover, along with a garlic clove and parsley (if using—see Notes) until quite tender, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the pork rind: Pre-boil the rind for about 15 minutes. Remove the rind and let it cool for a few minutes. When it is cool enough to handle, cut it into thin strips.Then simmer the strips in water to cover, lightly salted, with the celery and onion. They will be done when they are tender but still have some bite to them, which will take, say 45-60 minutes.
  • Prepare the tomato sauce in a large casserole large enough to contain all the ingredients: Make a soffritto by sautéing the onion, garlic and parsley gently in lard (the traditional choice) or olive oil, seasoning while the odori are cooking. Add your canned tomatoes, puréeing them by passing them through a food mill into the pot. Let the tomatoes simmer until they have reduced into a sauce, about 15-20 minutes.
  • Now it's time to put it all together: Add the pork rind to the tomato sauce and let them simmer together for a minute or two, then add the cooked beans. Mix everything together well. Add a bit of the pork rind water and/or bean water if you find that the mixture is a bit dry. Simmer it all for about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to get to know each other.
  • Serve hot. Like many long-simmered bean dishes, fagioli con le cotiche are even better if allowed to rest overnight and reheated the next day.