Hey Good Lookin'! Whatcha Got Cooking? -- Pasta E Fagioli

Time for another edition of....

Here's one I made this week.

Pasta E Fagioli

I am not a food photographer, so please know that this is much yummier than it might look in the picture. 

I love this recipe because it's usually a meal I can make with things I have already in my pantry. The only things I might have to go out and buy are the V8  and celery.

Last night I had some friends come over for dinner, and was able to whip this up fairly painlessly. But keep in mind: it has a 1 hour simmer step, so plan carefully for that one. 

The recipe originally came out of the Top Secret Restaurant Recipes books by Todd Wilbur. I L-O-V-E, love them! Everything I've tried has been yummy. You can snag his books on Amazon here. They're great. 

Ingredients:
1 lb. of turkey sausage (beef is the traditional ingredient if you prefer) 
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, julienned (you could dice if you don't know how to julienne)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5-oz cans of diced tomotoes (I used one 28 oz. can)
1 15-oz can red kidney beans, with liquid
1 15-oz can Great Northern beans, with liquid
1 15-oz can tomato sauce (I used two 8 oz. cans)
1 12-oz can of V-8 juice
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 pound ditali pasta

Brown the meat in a large stockpot. Drain off the fat. 

Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and saute for 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients, excluding the pasta, and simmer for an hour.

When you have about 10 minutes left on the simmering, boil the pasta in a large pot of water and cook until al dente. DO NOT OVERCOOK!

Add the pasta to the pot of soup, let simmer a few more minutes and then enjoy. I serve this with salad and some yummy garlic cheese bread. 

So link up and tell me watcha got cookin!

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