Crockpot Olive Garden Style Pasta Fagioli

Oh. My. Gosh. This tasted EXACTLY like Olive Garden's Pasta Fagioli soup and it rocked my entire world. Yes, even during the summer in 110 degree temps! I loved it THAT much. Not only that, it's easy... SUPER easy. The only disclaimer is that you *must* use a 6 quart crockpot or cut the recipe in half because it makes a lot. I had to borrow a neighbor's crockpot because mine wasn't big enough. So, there's that!

What you need:

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes (and juice)

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can white (great northern) beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups beef broth

1 jar (16.5 oz) spaghetti sauce

2 tsp oregano

1 tbsp tabasco

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 cup dry pasta (I used ditalini; added at the END of cooking time)

Directions:

1. Brown meat and drain; set aside to cool.

2. Cut up carrots, onion and celery. Add to empty crockpot. Drain and rinse the beans and add to crockpot. Add the whole cans of tomatoes and pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano and tabasco. Finally, stir in the meat.

3. Cover and cook on either low for 8 hours or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender (about the last half hour of cooking time), add the dry noodles.

4. Once the noodles are tender, serve with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

*Original recipe found here