Copycat Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup

Many years ago, when Olive Garden offered lunch specials (do they still? I don't know) I would go often and I always ordered the Pasta E Fagioli soup with salad and breadsticks. I love that soup - it's yummy and filling and warm. So when I stumbled upon this copycat recipe yesterday on Pinterest, I jumped on it. Fortunately, I had ground beef already thawed in my frig and I was able to make it the same day.

I made a few changes to the original recipe, leaving out a couple of ingredients and adding a few new ones. I also halved the recipe from CopyKat since I didn't need enough to feed 36 people.

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli (Slow Cooker Method included)
Yield: 12-16 servings
Adapted from CopyKat

1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 15oz can dark red kidney beans, drained
1 15oz can canellini beans, drained
1 4-5oz can sliced mushrooms (or about 3-4 fresh mushrooms, sliced)
1 container beef stock
1.5 tsp oregano
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 16oz jar marinara (or any pasta) sauce
8 ounces dry pasta shell macaroni (or other pasta)

STOVE-TOP INSTRUCTIONS: Saute beef in at least a 6-qt. pot until beef starts to brown. Add onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot. Also add beef stock, oregano, pepper, Tabasco, spaghetti sauce, and pasta. Add chopped parsley. Simmer until celery and carrots are tender, about 45 minutes. Makes about 4-5 quarts of soup.

SLOW COOKER INSTRUCTIONS: In a large saute pan, brown the ground beef. When the beef is about halfway cooked, turn on your slow cooker to LOW. (Hot ingredients should go into a pre-warmed crock to avoid cracking it.) When the beef is fully cooked transfer it to the warmed slow cooker. Keep a small amount of fat in the pan and saute the onion, carrots, celery, and sun-dried tomatoes until the onion is translucent. While the veggies are sauteing, add the canned tomatoes, beans, beef stock, herbs/spices, Tabasco, and pasta sauce to the slow cooker. Then add the sauteed veggies to the crock. Stir until everything is well blended. Reset the slow cooker to HIGH for 1 hour and then reduce to LOW for an additional 4-5 hours. With at least 1.5 hours remaining, add the uncooked pasta. You may need to add additional stock or water if the soup is thicker than you like.

FREEZE IT! If you want to freeze this soup, it is best when you don’t add the pasta, cooked pasta doesn’t freeze very well. If you plan to freeze the soup you can always cook up some fresh pasta and stir it in when you are ready to serve your family.

Confession: I added the pasta at the start, which was a mistake. I should have waited until the end of the day to add it. We ended up with overcooked pasta. However, that did not diminish the deliciousness of this hearty, warm, and wonderful soup. We agreed that this is a keeper and I plan to make large batches for my freezer in the future. It's the perfect meal for a cold winter day, which ours turned into with a surprise light snowfall in the afternoon.