Pasta e Fagioli

If you like the Pasta e Fagoili soup at Olive Garden, you will like this soup as well.  My recipe is lower in sodium than what you will find in the restaurant.  You can also brown the meat on the stovetop and then add all the remaining ingredients to a slow cooker if you need to do so.

1 - 2 lbs lean ground beef, Italian sausage, lamb, turkey, veal or pork or any combination
1 T olive oil (omit if using Italian sausage)
2 t Italian seasoning
1 large onion, chopped
4 carrots, sliced thin
4 stalks celery, chopped (including leaves if available)
1 28 oz diced tomatoes
2 c red kidney beans, drained (1 can)
2 c white kidney beans, drained (1 can) also called cannellini beans
24 oz gf beef broth
1 T dried oregano
pepper to taste
Tabasco sauce to taste
8 oz shell pasta
1 T fresh parsley chopped

In Dutch oven, saute meat in olive oil with Italian seasoning if needed (see above) just until begins to brown. Add onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Drain and rinse beans. Add to pot. Add beef broth, pepper, Tabasco sauce and chopped parsley.
Simmer until celery and carrots are tender.

In separate pot, boil shell pasta according to box instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.

When soup is ready, spoon serving size of pasta into dish and ladle soup on top. Serve with freshly grated pecorino romano cheese.

Notes:

Crock pot version:  Follow all directions above OMITTING pasta.  Cook pasta separately and add to soup immediately prior to serving.

Gluten free version:  Omit pasta altogether.  It is quite tasty without the pasta.


To freeze this soup.  Cook using the crock pot version making sure to omit the pasta until prior to serving.