Pasta e Fagioli Soup

I just thought I'd share this recipe with anyone who is interested. I posted it on my family blog, but thought I'd share it here too. I made this soup last night after craving it for weeks. My favorite soup is the Pasta e Fagioli Soup from Olive Garden, so I did some snooping on Google and found a few recipes that sounded good and came up with this one. It seriously tasted just like the real deal.

Ingredients:3 tsp. Oil2 lb. Ground beef 12 oz. Onion; chopped 14 oz. Carrots; slivered 14 oz. Celery; diced 48 oz. Tomatoes; canned, diced 2 C. cooked Red Kidney beans 2 C cooked White kidney beans 88 oz. Beef stock 3 tsp. Oregano 2-1/2 tsp. Pepper 5 tsp. Parsley; (fresh chopped) 1-1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce 48 oz. Spaghetti sauce8 oz. dry pasta Shell macaroni; or other pasta

Directions:Saute beef in oil in large 10-qt. pot until beef starts to brown. Add onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot. Also add beef stock, oregano, pepper, Tabasco, spaghetti sauce, and noodles. Add chopped parsley. Simmer until celery and carrots are tender, about 45 minutes. Makes 9 qts. of soup! **Just cut the recipe in 1/2 for smaller family needs!