Warm Up with Pasta e Fagioli

This has certainly been a crazy winter. I know everyone up north is waiting for spring. We have even felt the cold affects down here in Florida. Much cooler temps than usual. So as the temperature drops, it is great to warm up with some soup. I have always loved Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagioli soup and when I came across this recipe, I decided to try it. I don't know where it came from, I only have a photo copy.   It turned out great.

It is not hard to make, but you do have to chop a lot. You could cut this time down by buying already chopped vegetables, but that would cost more. Depends on how much time you have.
 As I was buying the ingredients, tomato sauce was buy one get one and the V-8 large size was on sale (cheaper than the smaller one). So I thought I would make a double batch. Love to put leftovers in the freezer.

So I got out my large Le Creuset pot and started to brown the meat. Added the chopped vegetables to the meat. So far so good. As I was adding the beans, I was starting to wonder.

By the time I hit the liquid, I knew I was in trouble. This pot was not going to hold everything. Get another Le Creuset pot. 

Now I have soup everywhere. I hope we like this?

Fortunately, we loved it.

My husband came home and said, "I don't think you made enough".  I was able to put two large and one extra large containers in the freezer.  I served it with some wheat rolls and it seemed to warm up the night. 

Best part is that I still have more for other cool nights.

Recipe:                                                                                                                     Print

Pasta e Fagioli

 

Ingredients:

2 oz. of any small uncooked pasta

1 pound lean ground beef

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup sliced carrot

2 (14 ½ oz cans) italian diced tomatoes

15 oz can navy beans, rinsed and drained

15 oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

11 ½ oz V-8 juice

15 oz can tomato  sauce

3 cups beef broth

1 cup water

1 tablespoon vinegar1

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

Directions:

Bring a large saucepan, half-filled with water to a rolling boil. Add pasta and follow directions on package until cooked al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.

While pasta is cooking, brown beef in a nonstick pot. When it is almost cooked, add garlic, onion, celery and carrot to the beef and let them all cook for about 5 minutes. Add all of the remaining ingredients, EXCEPT for the pasta. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes. Stir in the pasta and cook for another 15 minutes. Makes 10 one-cup servings.

So if you are looking for a great warm me up, stick to our ribs soup, try this pasta e fagioli. However, you may not want to double the recipe, unless you have many to feed or you like left overs.

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