Pasta Fagioli Soup

Content

Useful Tips

In my opinion, the key to stress free cooking, is having all the ingredients measured out and prepared before you start the cooking process. Once you get that done and out of the way, you can focus your attention to the cooking steps without overwhelming yourself. So when it's time to add the next ingredient, it's already chopped and measured out for you. Another key to avoid becoming overwhelmed when making dinner, is to clean up as you go along. If there's an extra set of hands available to clean and wash dishes as you dirty them, fantastic. But if you don't, take time after measuring and chopping up things to wash the dishes you've used before the cooking process begins. When possible, use one plate (or bowl) to place all your cut veggies on. Place them next to each other if they'll be cooked in different stages. If they're all going in at the same time, just pile them on top of the next. Same thing with the spices. This will cut down on the amount of dishes you have to wash up in the long run.

Getting Started

Now that everything is prepped and you've got your bottle glass of wine on the counter within reach, let's get this soupy soup going! In a deep dutch oven pot, heat oil and begin browning and crumbling the sausage as it cooks. A NOTE about the sausage, it has a very thin and clear casing that needs to be removed prior to cooking it. Just take a small paring knife and make a slice alongside each link and peel it away. When sausage is done, scoop it out and place it in a bowl, leaving as much of the oil in the pan as possible. If there's not much left, add one additional tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add the onions, celery and carrots. Saute until the onion is translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add garlic and spices, continue stirring. I must say, this smells uh-mazing!!

Continuing

It's time to add the broth, tomatoes, sauce, beans, sausage and bay leaf. Get that simmering and in the mean time, start the pasta. Just a few more minutes and you'll feel like you've stepped into a fancy restaurant…for real, y'all! Now, if you're anything like me, a side of crusty bread is needed and this one right here is great beside this Fagioli Soup, plus it's really super easy to make, too. If you don't have the ingredients to make it, don't fret. All these veggies, beans and pasta bits are perfectly great on their own…as is, so don't sweat it.

This might be an unusual question but, am I the only one who thinks these little tubes of Ditalini Pasta are adorable!? Because they totally ARE!!! To prevent them from getting mushy or overcooked, it's best to cook these on their own. To help boost the flavor, add a cube of this Knorr Tomato Bouillon when cooking the pasta.

Here's something I wanted to share with you guys. Hearty soups require deep bowls to hold all that wonderful goodness and I scored us a nice set! I fell for this set of Ceramic Textured Bowls over at my local Sam's Club. That honey comb bowl is my favorite one of the set! They also happen to be the perfect size and depth for that late night cereal snack before bed…just in case you were wondering 😉

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Ingredients

• 19 oz Mild Sausage, Johnsonville ((1 package))
• 2-3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 tsp Garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup Matchstick Carrots, rough chopped
• 1/2 med Yellow Onion, diced
• 1 stalk Celery, diced
• 1/2 tsp Oregano, dried
• 1/2 tsp Basil, dried
• 1/2 tsp Thyme, dried
• 1 quart Chicken Broth
• 16 oz Tomato Sauce
• 15 oz Diced Tomatoes (Petite)
• 15 oz Kidney Beans (drained, rinsed)
• 15 oz Great Northern Bean (drained, rinsed)
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Pepper
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 cup Ditalini Pasta
• 1 cube Tomato Bouillon

Instructions

1. Chop veggies, measure out ingredients, drain and rinse beans. Set aside.
2. Remove casing from sausages. Heat oil in large dutch oven (cooking pot). Add sausage, salt and pepper and begin crumbling it as it browns and cooks, approximately 5 minutes. Scoop sausage out with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate, leaving remaining oil in pot. 
3. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Stir and saute for 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano, thyme and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
4. Add broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, sausage and both beans and bay leaf. Simmer for approximately 15 minutes.
5. While the soup simmers, add tomato bouillon cube to a small pot of water and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
6. When soup is ready, add pasta, stir gently. Devour! 

Cori - xoxo