Pasta Fagioli

Thanks again to Pinterest for allowing me to find this wonderful recipe on Our Blissfully Domestic Life blog!  Pasta Fagioli is an Italian soup/stew and it is oh so tasty!  I know it is summer, but it has been cool this week so I decided to give it a try.  The nice part was that I now have two containers of leftovers in my freezer for the next time I want something in a flash!

Shopping List:

1 lb Lean Ground Beef

1 medium Yellow Onion, chopped

2 medium Carrots, chopped

2 stalks of Celery, chopped

2-3 cloves of Garlic, minced

1- 28 oz can of Tomatoes

1- 8 oz can Tomato Sauce

1- 15 oz can Cannelloni Beans, drained 

4 cups Beef Broth

1 & 1/2 cup Elbow Pasta

2 cups of Fresh Spinach (packed)

1 Beef Bouillon Cube (or the equivalent in Granules)

1 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp. dried Italian Seasoning

4-5 dashed of Hot Sauce (Texas Pete or Tabasco)

Salt & Pepper

Olive oil

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (for topping)

 

Directions:

-Over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until meat is no longer pink and veggies are starting to get tender. Season with salt and pepper.

-Add in the canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth(i used bouillon cubes to make my broth), bouillon cube, garlic, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Stir well and turn the heat to low.  Cover.

-Let the soup simmer for as long as you can. (I let mine go for about 2 hours, but this can be as fast a 30 minutes.) Stir occasionally.

-After the tomato sauce has simmered, add the beans and keep on low/covered for 1 more hour (or long enough to heat through if you are in quick mode).

-When you are ready to eat, cook the pasta according to directions in a separate pot.  Add the spinach into the tomato mixture and stir. Add in the hot sauce as well. This does not make it spicy, just a little background flavor!

-When the pasta is finished and drained, you can add it straight to the soup or serve it on the side to be dished into individual soup bowls.  We did ours on the side so the pasta wouldn't get mushy when we froze the leftovers. Top each serving with fresh Parmesan cheese (or the shaker kind if that's all you have on hand) :(

The finished stew



Everything ready to be eaten!



It was a little time consuming, but as I mentioned you can do this in as little as an hour if you choose.  It was a fantastic meal and I can't wait to dig into the leftovers in a few weeks!

Happy Eating!

A Classic: Monkey Bread

Who doesn't love monkey bread? Yes, I know it is terrible for you and full of sugar but it just tastes so wonderful!  For those of you who have been living under a rock, monkey bread is just a cinnamon pull apart bread made from refrigerator roll biscuits.



The Bread!

Shopping List:

3 12 oz. packages refrigerated biscuit dough.

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup brown sugar

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9 or 10 inch bundt pan.

-Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters. Shake 6-8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in bottom of prepared pan.  Continue until all biscuits are coated and in the pan.

-In a small saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits.

-Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Do not cut! This bread is meant to be pulled apart bite by bite!

So there you have it, a wonderful treat for an entire group to share.

On a side note, I can't decide if I like the centered posting or the original left justified posting. I need your help! Which is better? What do you like?

Happy Eating!