Faux Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli

Confession:  I love the all you can eat soup, salad, and bread stick lunches at Olive Garden!  The good news?  I figured out how to make one of the soups at home!

Pasta Fagioli

Extra virgin olive oil
1 - medium onion, diced
2 - celery stalks, diced
2 - carrots, diced
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 - 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 - 15 oz. can of kidney beans
1 - 15 oz. can of white beans
2 cups of spaghetti sauce
1 - 15 oz. can of beef broth
1 Tbls Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
4 oz. small pasta, such as ditalini
Shredded Parmesan cheese 

In a large stockpot, saute onion, celery, and carrot in a little olive oil over medium heat until they begin to soften.  Add the ground beef.  Once the ground beef has browned and broken down, add the remaining ingredients, except pasta.  Stir, bring to a boil, then simmer on low for about 30 minutes.  While soup is simmering, cook pasta al dente in a separate pot.  Add pasta to the soup just before serving.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

Tips:

1.  You can cook this in the crock pot.  I would just recommend browning the meat first and cooking the noodles separately.  I've never had luck cooking noodles in the crock pot.

2.  To make this "low carb" skip the pasta and add an extra can of white beans!

~M