Family Chow Hall

Pasta and Bean Soup

December 29th, 2005

aka Pasta e Fagioli

An excellent soup for a cold day, this is kind of an Italian take on Chili. There are a hundred ways you can modify this soup - go vegetarian, use different beans, use shredded pork or ground beef, etc. My own simplified - Americanized version is below.

Pasta and Bean Soup
serves 10 / prep. time: 20 min. / cook time: 1 or more hours

1 pound ground bulk sausage
1/2 c. chopped carrots
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can V-8 or tomato juice
1 can northern beans
1 can chicken broth
1 T. white vinegar
1 t. minced garlic
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. basil
1 t. oregano
1 c. uncooked small pasta (small shells, ditalini, or just elbows)
shredded Parmesan cheese

First, brown the sausage and cook the carrots, celery, and onions with it. Sausage tends to stay together in large clumps and I don’t like it, so I usually let it cool and run it through my chopper until it’s fine. Unnecessary, but hey, that’s the way I like it. After that, it’s just a matter of dumping all the ingredients (except the pasta) into a crockpot or large soup kettle. Just wait ’til it heats up - the smell will have you drooling! When it’s almost chow time, cook the pasta as directed on the package, drain, and add it to the soup. Serve immediately. Sprinkle each bowl with a little of the Parmesan.

If you’re feeling ambitious, make breadsticks to serve with it.

A note about sausage: I get bulk Garlic Sausage from my favorite butcher. It is the absolute BEST for Italian dishes like this. If you have access to garlic sausage, buy it!

(Leftover Pasta and Bean Soup is great, but don’t cook it so long that the pasta turns to mush.)

Entry Filed under: Italian, Recipes, Soup, Supper