Soup Is On!

 

Sometimes there is nothing more comforting than a bowl of soup and even better is the smell of soup in a Crock Pot waiting for you when you get home from a busy day. When I saw some Olive Garden soup recipes on Pinterest I knew I had to give it a try. The recipe looked simple and I had everything on hand. It was super simple to prepare this recipe and we were looking forward to the busy night when we would come home to the comforts of soup after a long day. This is the recipe I tried.

Pasta e Fagioli (from Olive Garden)

1 lb. ground beef

1 small onion, diced

1 large carrot, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart of tomatoes (or 2 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes)

1 15-oz. can red kidney beans (w/ liquid)

1 15-oz. can Great Northern Beans (w/ liquid)
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce

1 T. white vinegar

1 ½ t. salt

1 t. oregano

1 t. basil

½ t. pepper

½ t. thyme

½ lb. Ditali pasta

1. Brown the ground beef in a large stock pot or Dutch Oven over medium heat.

2. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, and saute for 10 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour, stirring often.

4. At 50 minutes into simmer time, cook the pasta according to package directions, until al dente. Drain the pasta and add to the pot of soup.

5. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and serve. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

 

I found the recipe HERE.

 

I will admit that even though we had to substitute the pasta and my husband got a little heavy handed on the carrots, the soup was very good and it was gone pretty darn quick.

 

 

 Any excuse to get out the red Crock Pot is good enough for me! So I decided to get back on Pinterest and see if I could find another recipe to add to my collection of "go to" recipes for a busy week ahead. And I found version two that I am going to give a try.

 

 

2 lbs. ground beef

1 onion, chopped

3 carrots, shredded

1 c. celery, chopped

2 (28 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (16 oz.) can red kidney beans, drained

1 (16 oz.) can white kidney beans, drained

4 cups beef stock

3 tsp. oregano

2 tsp. pepper

5 tsp. parsley

1 tsp. Tabasco sauce

1 (20 oz.) jar Prego traditional spaghetti sauce

8 oz. pasta (I like using ditali pasta)

 

 

Brown ground beef in large skillet. Drain fat. Add beef and all ingredients except the pasta into a large crock pot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

Before serving, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and add to soup.

 

I think this version might be my favorite because it looks like the broth might be richer... I found the recipe HERE! Either way you go this recipe is super simple and so good especially when you are busy taking care of everything else!