Pasta e Fagioli

I am thrilled that the fall weather is upon us! Bring on the soups, stews, and all things comfort food.

We gave pasta e fagioli a try this weekend. It was pretty awesome, homemade, and an inexpensive dinner in under half an hour. This is a pretty flexible recipe. You can change up the veggies, use ground sausage instead of beef, beef broth instead of chicken broth and pick your spices. It's one of those whatever is in the kitchen kind of soups - my favorite kind!

Here's what you need: 

1 T olive oil 

1 lb ground beef or sausage

1 chopped yellow onion

1 to 2 cups diced carrots 

1 cup diced celery

3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

24 oz (canned or homemade) tomato sauce

30 oz chicken broth

1/2 to 1 cup water (add more after you taste test if you'd like) 

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 t granulated sugar (not required) 

1 1/2 t dried, crushed basil

1 1/2 t dried, crushed oregano

1 t dried thyme

1/2 t dried marjoram

2 t salt 

2 t freshly ground pepper 

1 15 oz can dark red kidney beans (drained and rinsed) 

1 15 oz can great northern beans or canelli beans (drained and rinsed) 

1 cup of dry pasta (ditalini or elbow pasta works best!)

Optional toppings: 

Finely shredded parmesan cheese & 3 T chopped fresh parsley or basil for serving

Cook it up: 

• Brown ground beef or sausage in a large pot over medium-high heat. 
• Drain the fat from the ground beef and transfer the ground beef to a bowl. Set this aside. Add 1 T olive oil in the same pot. 
• Add veggies (onions, carrots and celery). Saute until tender (about 5 minutes). Add garlic and saute for one more minute. 
• Add broth, tomato sauce, water, canned diced tomatoes, sugar, spices, and cooked beef. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to medium-low. Cover with a lid and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are soft (15-20 minutes). 
• In a separate pot, prepare dry pasta. Cook and drain the pasta. 
• Add cooked and drained pasta, as well as beans, to the soup.
• If the soup is too thick, thin with more broth or water. 
• Cook for one minute longer. 
• Top with toppings if you like.

We make both regular and gluten-free pasta in our house when recipes call for pasta. If you have leftovers or need to serve this dish to some people gluten-free, add the noodles as you dish up the bowls. Pasta gets pretty squishy and sucks up the extra liquid if it's left in the soup overnight or frozen.

ENJOY!