Baby, it's cold outside. So what is a great way to warm up? Soup, of course! This is a recipe for pasta e fagioli soup which is comforting and adaptable to many tastes. I stitched together a few different recipes and added a few tweaks until I got what I was looking for.
Gather:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 carrot, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 onion, diced
2-4 gloves of garlic, minced
Pinch of red pepper flake
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 28 oz or 2 15 oz cans of puréed tomatoes
1 15 oz can dark red kidney beans
1 15 oz can great northern beans
Fresh chopped oregano, parsley and thyme
1/4 cup red wine
1/2-3/4 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
1/2 lb small pasta: ditali or tiny shells
Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
Do:
Cook off the ground beef and set aside on paper towel to drain. Sauté the onion, carrot and celery in the same pot, until soft. Add the garlic and red pepper flake, cook until fragrant. Add the beef back in along with the diced tomatoes, puréed tomatoes and beans (drained, not rinsed). Add in generous tablespoons of the herbs as well as the red wine. Add in enough stock to get the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then knock it down to a simmer for about an hour. Before serving cook the pasta in a separate pot 2 mins short of cooked. To serve, put some pasta in a bowl, ladled the soup on top, stir to combine and top with grated Parmesan cheese.
I like to serve the soup with a green salad and toasted bread. When storing leftover soup, keep the pasta separate until you reheat because it keeps it from getting gummy.
Enjoy and stay warm!