Description
I have been preparing this magnificent pasta and bean soup, unchanged for over 30 years, and confess that of the very many Pasta e Fagioli I have tasted none even came close to a reasonable comparison to this superb dish Italiano. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese if desired. Makes many servings and is excellent the next day. Should the soup become too thick it may be thinned with broth. Have many Chicago hard rolls, red wine, baguettes or garlic bread on hand. BUON APPETITO!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds lean ground beef
- ½ cup olive oil
- 4 cups chopped onion
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 2 (4.5 ounce) jars bottled minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 8 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 ½ teaspoons dried basil
- 2 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 2 cups ditalini pasta
- 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat
- cook beef until no longer pink. Drain and set aside.
- In the same pot
- heat the olive oil. Cook onion
- celery
- garlic and black pepper until vegetables are tender
- 10 minutes. Stir in beef broth
- crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Season with thyme
- basil
- oregano and parsley. Cover
- reduce heat and simmer 1 hour. (At this point
- you may put the pot on a back burner to keep warm and continue with the next steps about 1 hour prior to serving
- if you wish.)
- Stir in the beef and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in the pasta and cook until al dente
- 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the beans and heat through
- 10 to 15 minutes.
Prep Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 2 hrs
Total Time: 3 hrs
Servings: 20