The Iconic Italian Comfort Food Dean Martin Loved And Sang About

If you are of a certain age, or perhaps a fan of vintage American crooners, you will undoubtedly recall that one of the ways to know you're in love espoused by singer and actor Dean Martin in his 1953 single "That's Amore" was "when the stars make you drool/just like pasta fazool." Setting aside the potentially unpleasant issue of stars making one drool, the lyrics (by Jack Brooks, with composer Harry Warren) reference the Neapolitan pronunciation (adopted by many an Italian-American) for a venerable Italian meal, pasta e fagioli, or pasta and beans. The dish also happened to be a favorite of Martin's, who came to love his mother's version of pasta e fagioli, a unique spin on the traditional recipe.

In a 2016 episode of the Hallmark Channel's series "Home & Family," Martin's daughter, Deana Martin — who is herself a singer and actor — said that her grandmother taught her to make that particular variation on pasta e fagioli, but with one important caveat: "She said I could not teach anybody [the recipe], I couldn't tell anybody," recalled Martin. The reason for the secrecy was apparently a personal one. As Martin noted, "[She said] one day, after she passed away, that it would bring my dad and me together. And it's true." Prepare your heartstrings for a serious tug.

Pasta e fagioli is, like many Italian meals, anchored by a core set of ingredients that have been modified over time and by various professional and amateur cooks. The foundation here features just three simple ingredients: a tomato base, white beans (usually cannellini), and what you might consider the best small-sized pasta shapes, like elbow macaroni or ditalini. Variations on this basic list can include broth or water, onion, parmesan cheese, and possibly a protein like sausage. Deana Martin's grandmother added one seemingly left-of-center choice: cinnamon. 

However, cinnamon is a tried-and-true method to lend both warmth and sweetness to a pasta dish without overwhelming the flavor (and when sugar is also added to the dish, it can help reduce the acidity of the tomato base). You may be skeptical of cinnamon's efficacy in pasta, but tell that to Giada de Laurentiis, who puts a dash of the spice in her carbonara sauce.

As for Deana Martin, she discovered that her grandmother's words were true about the unifying properties of a simple yet flavorful pasta dish. Some three decades after Angela's death, she followed the recipe to the letter and presented her father with a bowl of his mother's pasta e fagioli. "The look in his eye was unbelievable," she recalled. "He said, 'Is this what I think it is?' So I made it for him many many times after that." And that, as the song goes, is amore.