Pasta E Fagioli Soup

 I found a recipe for Olive Gardens Pasta E Fagioli soup. We liked it and it was pretty easy:

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can cannellini beans (or white kidney beans), drained and rinsed (I couldn't find cannellini beans so I just used two cans of the kidney beans)

1 (26 oz.) container beef stock (or 3 cups)

1 jar (25 oz.) spaghetti sauce

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup uncooked ditalini pasta (or your favorite pasta shape) (I used Picolini pasta here since I couldn't find ditalini)

Salt, to taste (about ½ tbsp. kosher salt)

 

Directions:

Brown and crumble ground beef. Drain excess grease.

Add all the other ingredients to the slow cooker (except for pasta) and stir.

Set slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

During the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, add in the pasta and stir. 

Cooks Notes: Pasta likes to absorb a lot of the liquid so if you like your soup more soupy, be prepared to have an extra can of beef broth handy. You can add it towards the end.