One of my friends and I like to occasionally meet at Olive Garden for lunch and we always get the same meal—soup, salad and breadsticks. I order Zuppa Toscana and she orders the Pasta e Fagioli. We both comment that we should try other soups. We never do.
While Olive Garden may never win any James Beard awards, they do serve stellar soups, and I can never eat just one breadstick. And as much as I love Zuppa Toscana, I decided to expand my horizons … well at least within my own kitchen!
Pasta e Fagioli is one of those soups that you can easily adapt to your tastes, so I did. I packed in quite a few veggies as I really want to increase my veggie intake this year. This soup really hits the spot, especially on a cold winter’s night.
Really, we do have cold nights in LA. Not polar vortex cold but still cold enough where you crave a hot bowl of soup. This comes together quickly and makes a large pot. I didn’t freeze any, although it should freeze well. I would probably leave out the spinach and pasta and add them when you reheat the soup.
The next time I meet my friend for lunch, I may just surprise her and order a new soup, then again … maybe not. 🙂
Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed if using links
- 1 carrot, peeled & chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 sweet yellow onion, diced
- 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 28 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes
- 4 cups of chicken broth
- 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup small tube pasta
- 1-2 cups fresh baby spinach, rinsed
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Pinch crushed red pepper or to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium high heat. Add sausage, break up into small crumbles with a fork and brown.
- Add onion, celery, carrot and sauté until soft, around 10 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, basil, oregano and crushed red pepper and cook for 1 minute. Then stir in tomatoes, beans, chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer while the pasta cooks.
- Cook pasta according to the directions on the box. Once cooked, drain and drizzle a little olive oil over the pasta and stir. This will prevent the pasta from sticking together and clumping when serving.
- Add spinach to soup and cover until spinach wilts. Stir spinach into soup and taste to see if you need to add additional salt or pepper.
- To serve: add a spoonful or two of pasta to a soup bowl then cover with soup. Sprinkle freshly grated parmesan cheese on top.
Notes
If you have leftovers, store the remaining pasta in a separate container from the soup. Otherwise, the pasta will absorb too much liquid and become mushy. If you want to freeze the soup, add the pasta and spinach when you reheat it.
Enjoy!
Tanya
Hi Tanya,
Sounds YUM 🙂
However, being a vegetarian, I don’t think this one would work for me, unless I use whole cheese in place of chicken or sausages perhaps, but the taste would change completely. Also, I would prefer a healthier option to pasta, if there is something, though in itself, this pasta soup can pass off as a great dish!
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice weekend 🙂
Thanks, Harleena! You could easily leave out the sausage or replace with a vegetarian sausage replacement with affecting the taste. I also ate a bowl of soup without the pasta by accident and didn’t even miss it, even though I LOVE pasta! 🙂 You have a wonderful weekend too!
I love all the vegetables in there! So good for you! This one is a keeper Tanya! Thank you for sharing it. We tend to eat a lot of soup in the winter and I usually add hot pepper flakes. I feel like it burns out any germs that are hoping to take up residence in my body! haha
Me too and the veggies taste great in it too. I need to make another pot of this soon. I love having soup for lunch since I can make one big pot and enjoy it for the rest of the week. LOL! Red pepper flakes probably do burn the germs right out of us! I know when I have a cold or a sore throat, I skip chicken noodle soup and get a high bowl of hot and sour soup instead!
Sounds delicious and very comforting, at this cold time of year. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks, Debbie! It is very comforting during winter. Have a great weekend!
Sounds like a great big bowl of comfort, Tanya! And you’re welcome for missing out on the polar vortex. 🙂
LOL! Yes, thank you for bringing me to California. 🙂 I feel just awful that I missed the -60 temps. Or not. Definitely not. Have a great weekend, Shannon!
I so love this recipe Tanya! Sounds easy to make and would be delicious for lunch or dinner. I’ve never seen the small round pasta like that before. Nice idea.
My husband and his buddies use to frequent Olive Garden for their soup, salad and bread sticks too. He loved it and still talks about it once in a while. We only have one Olive Garden in our city and it is about 45 minutes away so we haven’t ventured over there in the past 4 years or so.
PS – Have you ever cooked with Quinoa? I am planning on trying it soon.
Have a great weekend!!
Thanks, Sicorra! It is really easy to make and it’s a great dinner or lunch option. It was called salad macaroni pasta at my grocery store and I thought it fit the bill perfectly. Honestly, their soup, salad and breadsticks are pretty delicious! I see lots of copycat recipes for their breadsticks which I need to try. I’ve been putting it off because I’m afraid they will be very addictive and dangerous to know how to make. I have not cooked with quinoa, although I have a few recipes bookmarked that I really want to try. Let me know how it goes. Have a great weekend!
Mmm…. this looks delicious, but might not be for me. Afraid I’m not keen on sausages (don’t like the fact that you never know what’s in them!) and I also can’t stand garlic (which is like a disability these days, because it seems to be in everything – I just have a really strong aversion to the smell and taste of it). Love all the other ingredients, though, especially spinach 🙂
You could definitely replace the sausage with ground beef or turkey since you’re not a fan of sausage. I love garlic, so it would be tough for me to do without it! On the flip side, you’re probably don’t miss the taste of garlic in recipes since it’s not a flavor you enjoy, although it must be hard when you’re not doing the cooking. It is in a lot of recipes. 🙂
I love Olive Garden! I can fill up on salad and breadsticks alone :).
This recipe looks delicious Tanya…it would sure hit the spot over here with this cold weather we’ve been having.
I’m not a spinach fan, can I leave it out or substitute something else for it?
Thanks for sharing it with us! Have a great new week!
Me too, Corina. Those breadsticks are just too yummy! It has been cold, although I was just running an errand it is warm outside today! You can just leave out the spinach or replace with kale or swiss chard. You have a great week too!
HI Tanya,
The soup sounds delish. I am a lover of Olive Garden but am steering clear of it for a while because carbs like to fool me by making me think they are my friend.
Your recipe sounds great and I might try it out this month or take it in to work for the staff there to try out.
Irish (Lisa)
I hear you about carbs. I love them … a little too much! I hope you try out the soup. I thought it turned out great and reheated beautifully!
My future husband loves Pasta Fagioli soup. I will definitely have to try this out! Off to go pin this!
Awesome! He will love it. It’s so good and yummy. I need to make another big pot of it soon. I love having it for a quickly lunch. 🙂