Homemade Pasta e Fagioli

One of my all-time favorite soups is Olive Garden’s pasta e fagioli, and this recipe is a delicious replica. It’s a wonderfully hearty soup that is sure to warm your heart and belly. And it’s incredibly easy to make; the most laborious task is chopping vegetables, which I find to be rather therapeutic.

My husband isn’t much of a soup fan, but he likes this pasta e fagioli and my Super Bowl chili. The kids devour it. Serve it up hot with garlic bread, a fresh salad and a bottle of red wine for a heartwarming dinner. After all, who doesn’t love a big bowl of comfort on a chilly day?

Here’s the hardest part of the whole recipe: chop carrots, celery, onions and garlic. You can brown and crumble ground beef in a large stockpot while you’re chopping.

Remove ground beef from stockpot and drain. Heat olive oil in the same stockpot over medium heat (or use the oil from the beef) and sauté veggies for about 5 minutes.

Next, add beef broth (chicken broth works fine, too), diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, browned ground beef and seasonings to stockpot. I usually open the beans while I have the can opener handy, too. Rinse and drain them, then set them aside. I do not add water at this point as I prefer a more savory soup, but feel free to add up to a cup per your taste.

Cover and allow the soup to simmer for about 30 minutes. Add pasta and beans about 15 minutes before you’re ready to serve to avoid the liquid from being absorbed and the pasta and beans becoming too mushy. (My kids prefer softer red beans, so I put them in a little earlier.)

By the way, this is ditalini pasta. Cute, right?

I had no idea it existed until I returned to the States last year. So while I lived in Japan, where the pasta selection was far less, elbow macaroni or mini penne worked just fine.

Sometimes I use the slow cooker with this recipe. I brown the beef and sauté the veggies in a skillet, and then add everything — except the beans and pasta — into the slow cooker. I let it simmer on low, adding the pasta and beans about 45 minutes before I’m ready to serve.

Please note that either way the liquid will be absorbed by the pasta the longer the soup rests. Just add more broth or water when you warm it up again.

This recipe makes plenty for a Saturday night card game, potluck lunch or other social gathering. It also freezes well, and like most ground beef recipes, tastes even better a day or two later. That is, if you’re lucky enough to have any left over. Enjoy!  — v.

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Homemade Pasta e Fagioli

November 4, 2015

Servings: 8

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By: v.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cups beef or chicken broth
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried basil leaves
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 3/4 tsp ground oregano
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 cup ditalini pasta
• 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained

Directions

• Step 1 In a large stockpot, crumble and brown ground beef. Drain and set aside.
• Step 2 In the same stockpot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté carrots, celery, onions and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, browned ground beef and seasonings. You may add up to 1 cup of water to thin per taste.
• Step 3 Cover and allow to simmer about 30 minutes. Rinse and drain beans, then add to stockpot with pasta about 15 minutes prior to serving.
  
  SLOW COOKER: prepare as written and transfer to slow cooker — excluding beans and pasta — to simmer on low. Add beans and pasta about 45 minutes prior to serving.
  
  NOTE: the longer the soup rests, the more liquid the pasta will absorb. Add more broth or water as necessary.
  
  This recipe is adapted from Damn Delicious.