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!

MMMM... Pasta!

Tortellini with Tomato Cream Sauce

Here is another quick and easy recipe that will feed your entire family!

The Ingredients

Shopping List:

16 oz. package frozen tortellini

1 small onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

14 oz. can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained

1 1/2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

-In a large skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add the tomatoes, spinach, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat until liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes.

-Stir in the whipping cream and cheese. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 8-10 minutes or until thickened.

-Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to directions. I have found that most tortellini calls for 2-3 minutes in boiling water. You will know they are done when they all float to the top of the water! Drain the pasta. Do not rinse.

-Toss the tortellini with the sauce and heat through. At this point we also added some shredded chicken. We also considered adding shrimp! It's all up to you!

The sauce (above) and the finished product (below)!

This pasta ended up tasting great! The only change we might consider for next time is to cut the amount of spinach in half and double the tomatoes. After all, this is called Tortellini with TOMATO cream sauce!

Happy Eating!