Pasta e fagioli, the Italian pasta and bean soup, is one of those dishes that’s different in every household. Italian-Americans often call it pasta “fazool’’ (fazool being Sicilian and Neapolitan dialect for fagioli). The popular bowls of tiny pasta and white beans are served as a very thick soup in a homemade tomato sauce.

You begin with a simple, quick sauce. This time of year use fresh Italian plum tomatoes. White beans cook separately until they’re not quite tender; the same for the pasta. Then everything goes into the pot together to cook briefly.

Though the soup should be thick and mostly beans and pasta with a little liquid, if you let the dish sit for a few minutes while you await family, the pasta will swell and absorb much of your sauce. My Italian-American friend had warned me about this, and the transformation didn’t take long. I got a soupy pasta, rather than a pasta soup. But I loved my accidental supper.

Start by cooking dried white beans that have soaked overnight (use fresh cranberry beans, if available; shuck 3 pounds of pods and cook the beans for five minutes). Choose a small pasta such as elbows, ditalini or tubettini (tiny tubes), farfalline (mini bowties), or pennette (mini penne), and cook it in a different pot. In this version, crumbled sweet Italian sausage goes into the sauce, which you can also make with canned tomatoes; crush them in a bowl and add to the sauce after browning the meat.

To peel fresh tomatoes, set them in a large heatproof bowl and pour in boiling water. Leave for a few minutes, then zip off the skins and puree them coarsely in a food processor. Ladle the finished dish into bowls and sprinkle with crushed red pepper, grated Parmesan, and chopped fresh parsley and oregano. With its meaty chunks of sausage and fresh-tasting sauce, the dish resembles another popular, old-fashioned weeknight classic: American chop suey. Your supper table just got a new regular. Sheryl Julian

Pasta e fagioli

Serves 4

1 cup dried white beans, soaked overnight and drained

7 large fresh plum tomatoes, cored

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

¾ pound loose Italian sweet sausage or 3 links Italian sweet sausage, meat removed from casings

Salt and black pepper, to taste

1 cup tiny pasta (small elbows, ditalini, tubettini, farfalline, pennette)

1 cup water

Crushed red pepper (for serving)

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan (for serving)

2 tablespoons each chopped fresh parsley and oregano

1. In a saucepan, combine the beans with water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer the beans for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until they are almost tender (they should need only a few minutes more cooking). Drain into a colander; set aside.

2. Use a paring knife to slash a tiny “x’’ at the bottom of each tomato. Transfer the tomatoes to a bowl. Bring a tea kettle of water to a boil, pour enough water over the tomatoes to cover them by 1 inch, and set aside for 3 minutes or until the skin starts to pull away from the “x’’ on the ends. With a slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes to a plate. Use a small knife to help strip off and discard the skins.

3. Quarter the tomatoes. Transfer to a food processor and pulse them until the mixture is coarse.

4. In a large flameproof casserole over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the garlic and sausage and cook, stirring often, for 8 minutes or until the sausage is browned and chunky. Add the tomatoes, salt, and black pepper. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute to scrape up the sediment. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes, or until the pasta is not quite cooked (it should need a few minutes more). Drain in a colander.

6. Add the beans and pasta to the tomato sauce with ½ cup of the water. Stir well. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the beans and pasta are both tender. The mixture should be loose; add the remaining water, 2 tablespoons at a time, if necessary. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and black pepper, if you like.

7. Ladle the mixture into 4 shallow bowls and sprinkle with crushed red pepper, Parmesan, and herbs. Sheryl Julian

Sheryl Julian can be reached at sheryl.julian@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @sheryljulian.