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Pasta e Fagioli is a delicious copycat recipe that is hardy, full of flavor and easy to make. It’s just as delicious as the real thing, maybe even better!!
What is Pasta e Fagioli?
Pasta e Fagioli is a traditional Italian soup and actually means “pasta and beans”. It is usually made with a white or cannellini bean but I also used a can of kidney bean. The soup uses a tiny little pasta called ditalini and is traditionally made with Italian sausage but I’ve also used hamburger when that is all I had on hand.
How to Make Pasta e Fagioli Soup
The entire soup can be made in one pot. I start by browning my meat and then putting it aside on a plate while I heat up the oil and saute the onions and garlic until soft.
Add in your carrots and celery into the onion mixture and stir for a few minutes. Add in your seasonings, tomatoes, sausage and chicken broth. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
Right before you are ready to serve the soup, add in your pasta, meat and beans simmer until pasta is tender. The pasta will absorb some of your liquid so if you need to, add in another cup or so of chicken broth. If you need to make the soup a day ahead or so, refrigerate and then before serving, reheat the soup and add in the pasta and beans and simmer until pasta is tender. If you add the pasta ahead of time and it sits in the refrigerator, the pasta will continue to absorb liquid and your soup will become too thick.
Serve garnished with parsley and Parmesan Cheese.
Can I Freeze Pasta E Fagioli Soup?
You can but I recommend doing it before adding the pasta, you can add in everything else. After reheating the soup, add in the pasta and simmer until pasta is tender. Add in an additional cup of chicken broth if needed if soup has become too thick.
This soup is one of my mother’s favorites and I got this recipe from her, not sure who she got it from. We have been having some cool, rainy days here in Portland so a bowl of homemade soup really hit the spot yesterday!
I also love the breadsticks they serve at Olive Garden, where this copycat soup recipe came from so if you need some to go with your soup, try these.
Other favorite soups:
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Pasta e Fagioli Soup Recipe
Pasta e Fagioli
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound Italian Sausage or hamburger
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 1 carrot peeled and chopped
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes with juices
- 3 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 1 can northern white beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup tiny pasta ditalini
- 2 Tbsp. parsley chopped, for garnish
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Brown hamburger drain and set aside.
- In a large heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat
- Stir in onion and cook for 2 minutes
- Stir in garlic, celery and carrots and cook for 3 minutes
- Add basil and oregano and toss to coat
- Stir in tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes
- If necessary add an additional cup of stock or water and stir in beans, browned meat and tiny pasta Simmer for 6-8 minutes or until pasta is tender
- Garnish with parsley and with grated Parmesan cheese
Nutrition Facts:
Originally posted May 30, 2008
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Vicki says
So good & so easy!! My favorite kind of meals 🙂 And definitely enough to stretch 2 nights for our little family – served it broiled & buttered swirl rye bread. Yum!
Rebecca says
I’m making this right now…..wow, great recipe. We have nearly 6 months of cold here in MA, and so good soup recipes are always appreciated. We’ll be making this again. I tripled the recipe b/c we’re having company….2 hungry, hard-working 19 year old boys! 🙂
Tina says
But then my husband would say “But where’s the meat?” His main complaint about vegetarian dishes? There’s no meat! Umm…that would be the point!
Thanks for sharing all your yummy recipes. I should do that now and again–I have some really good ones!
Leigh Anne says
Tina – glad you liked it. You can easily make the soup vegetarian too by leaving out the hamburger! Enjoy.
Tina says
Wow, that looks yummy! When I saw it I told my daughter, “man, that looks good. Bet it’s really bad for you!” and then I read the ingredients and hey, it’s totally NOT! Thanks for posting a healthy recipe! 😀