Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Pasta e Fagioli


 I'm going to date myself for a moment;  I remember when the first Olive Garden came to our town, close to 25 years ago!  I had never heard of it, but the food looked amazing on the commercials, so upscale and different than anything our town had to offer.  We went there shortly after opening and I had pasta e fagioli soup for the first time.  The menu described it as Italian chili, I figured how could it be bad and ordered a bowl.  It's been my all time favorite Olive Garden soup ever since.  Every time we go there I look forward to the soup.  The few times I've gotten salad instead of soup, I regret it every time.  Oh sure, the salad IS delicious, but the pasta e fagioli...I love it!  Tomato broth, loaded with beans and pasta tubes, lightly seasoned but so very flavorful.  It's really just so good!  And yet I never tried to make it at home.  Until now!

Knowing that I wanted Olive Garden pasta e fagioli I decided to just search for a recipe online rather than try to recreate it from memory.  Sadly it's been years since I've enjoyed the soup at the restaurant - so a recipe was in order.  Todd Wilbur of Top Secret Recipes usually does a pretty darn good job of imitating the original restaurant recipes.  A quick look through the ingredients list and I knew this was the recipe for me.   It had the veggies that are in the soup and most importantly of all (in this Witches' opinion) he used the correct pasta.  So many recipes out there call for shells or elbows, all fine substitutions but come on, if you're  recreating the recipe use the right pasta for crying out loud!  The recipe is very easy and pantry friendly, I had everything on hand except the V-8.  No problem, a quick trip to the store fixed that and we were on our way to pasta e fagioli heaven!

What can I say?  This soup is every bit as good as the Olive Garden's.  Better, actually, because I know what I put in it.  It's perfect on chilly fall days, paired with traditional breadsticks and salad it makes a great meal.  The entire family loved this soup.  So much that I made a second pot 3 days later for us to eat for lunches.   Pasta e fagioli is a budget friendly, kid friendly, yummy and easy to put together meal that the entire family will enjoy.  I hope you make a pot of it soon!

Pasta e Fagioli
makes 8 generous servings
source:  Olive Garden, Top Secret Recipes
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion diced fine (1 cup)
3 stalks celery chopped (1 cup)
3 carrots grated (1 cup)
3 cloves garlic minced fine
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
12 oz V-8 vegetable juice blend
1 T white wine vinegar
1 can cannolini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1.5 t dried oregano
.5 t dried thyme
1 T  kosher salt OR 1.5 t table salt
2 cans water (I use the tomato sauce and diced tomato cans, that way I rinse out the tomato residue into my soup)
1/2 lb (1/2 box) ditalini pasta (short round tubes)

In a large dutch oven or soup pot brown the beef.  Drain off any excess fat.  Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic.  Sautee about 10 minutes or until the veggies are starting to soften.  Add everything EXCEPT the pasta to the pot.  Stir well, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 1 hour, stirring 2-3 times during the cooking process.

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and reserve.

Put about 1/3 c cooked pasta in each bowl and ladle hot soup over top.  Serve with grated cheese if desired.

Nutrition Facts calculated at SparkPeople recipe calculator 8 Servings Amount Per Serving Calories 369.0 Total Fat 12.7 g Saturated Fat 4.8 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.7 g Monounsaturated Fat 5.2 g Cholesterol 42.5 mg Sodium 599.0 mg Potassium 872.9 mg Total Carbohydrate 45.2 g Dietary Fiber 7.3 g Sugars 6.5 g Protein 19.7 g

21 comments:

Big Dude said...

Soup weather is moving in and this looks like a good one.

anthony stemke said...

Pasta fazool, I love it. A very good recipe.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Andrea, it's been ages since I've had pasta e fagioli. I'm putting this on my soup roster for when the weather finally cools off. A big bowl of this and some crusty homemade bread, and I might even skip the salad!

Pam said...

Funny! I remember when Olive Garden came to town too. Your soup looks delicious, healthy and a must make! Thanks for the recipe!

Velva said...

fagoli is a good cool weather soup. My in-laws are Italian and this is the soup they crave.

Thanks for reminding what a great soup this one is-

Velva

Cranberry Morning said...

Oh my goodness, that looks like pure fall comfort food!!!

Thanks for stopping in at Cranberry Morning today and the kind words about Lionel. So appreciated, Andrea.

Sarah said...

I love your little pasta tubes. This looks so good. I am on a soup binge at the moment (and it isn't even cold out yet!).

Unknown said...

I too remember the first days of the Olive Garden... and Pasta e Fagioli is one of my favorite things on their menu! Can't wait to try this one out!

Laurie {Simply Scratch} said...

This looks so good!!

chow and chatter said...

this soup looks fab

Rosita Vargas said...

Estupenda receta me gusta contundente y sabrosa,abrazos hugs.hugs.

Chris said...

That looks excellent. Wilbur does do great work, doesn't he. I even like his Big Mac clone (way better than the real thing for sure).

Gina said...

A pot of soup is so perfect for this time of year. Especially with lots of veggies. I haven't had that soup in years, but it sounds like what I remember.
-Gina-

Farmer Jo said...

This is going on my menu next week! YUM

www.mahaslovelyhome.com said...

rich n delicious...
Maha

Farmer Jo said...

We need to get back on the blogging wagon! I miss your recipes!

Unknown said...

I am very thankful to you for outstanding post. Perfectly composed information really experienced knowledge. I really enjoying and I’m going to bookmark so i can read new articles you post in future.

Man And Van Richmond

Jenny Glinka said...

I followed your recipe this weekend and it turned out AMAZING!! Thank you so much! :)

Krista said...

This a little bland to my taste buds, but otherwise it was a great copy cat recipe!

I made it a second time and I added some packaged spaghetti spices, pepper, and garlic salt (and I also reduced the beans down to just one can for personal preference). It was perfection!

Penelope Sanchez said...

This brings back loooots of memories! One of my favourite comfort foods as a kid. :-)

Rowena
Great data for Austin Maid Service Company

Andi said...

We just had this for dinner and it is a great recipe! Keeper for sure. I made it the day before and reheated for dinner the next night. Thanks. Andi

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