Pasta Fagiole
I can just tell you what I do, so here goes.
Make sure that you have a nice ham bone w/lots of meat left on the bone. Use dried lima beans, I prefer the large limas. The night before you plan to have pasta fagiole, sort thru the beans and discard any bad ones. Then put them in a large pot and cover w/ 6-8 cups of cold water, cover and soak overnight. The next day, drain the beans, rinse well and drain again. Place the beans back into the large pot w/ the ham bone. Along with a large diced onion. Cook until the beans are tender. When tender, add ditalini or farfalle and cook until done. It's great this way or you can add a can of diced tomatoes. We love it either way. As far as proportions, if you use 1# of beans, use 1/2# of pasta, if you use 2# of beans, use 1# of pasta, and so on.
Delicious!!!
Sorry, I forgot to add that you take the ham off the bone and add into the pasta fagiole! Duh, I don't know what I was thinking! Sorry.