On a whim, last night I Googled "Pasta e fagioli" and I found a copycat recipe to Olive Garden's greatest offering. This morning I bought the ingredients I needed and put it together - and Wow! - I don't think I could tell this soup from the kind Olive Garden serves (except mine has more of those wonderful carrots). Why didn't I think of this before? The recipe is simple and takes only about an hour. I cut the online recipe to about a quarter size: 1 tsp olive oil or vegetable oil 1/2 lb ground beef 1 small onion, chopped handful or so julienned/shredded/matchstick carrots 2 stalks celery, diced 1 14 oz. can petite diced tomatoes 1/2 cup red kidney beans 1/2 cup great northern beans 3 cups beef stock (1 can Campbell's condensed soup + 1 can water) 1 tsp oregano pepper 2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped 1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce (I used Emeril's Homestyle Marinara) 1/4 cup or so of Ditalini pasta, or other small pasta 1. Brown the beef in the oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. 2. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and can of tomatoes (juice and all) and simmer a few minutes. 3. Then add the rest of the ingredients except for the pasta. Let it all simmer over medium heat until the carrots and celery are tender to your liking, about 30-40 min. 4. Cook the pasta separately and add just before eating (otherwise it gets mushy). _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._ Try it even if you're not a great cook - it's hard to mess up soup (especially in this recipe, since you're not adding any extra salt). It's an easy, nutritious, complete meal! On second thought, maybe I should have made the 9-quart recipe; this stuff's going to go fast.
I've made this before when I lived in Germany (with beans I bought in Italy even) but my family didn't like it. I thought it turned out pretty good.
Canned - considering that I don't mention soaking procedures, which many individual recipes do specify, I thought it might be apparent. It would probably be best to rinse the beans.
