Recipe Share ~ Pasta Fagioli

Here is one of my favorite go-to recipes.  It only uses ingredients that I always have on hand.  It also is very low fat.  Most importantly, everyone in my family happily eats it!  I like to serve it with a green salad, homemade bread sticks or crackers.  It reheats very well - which is great because I love leftovers!  The pasta in the soup sucks up all the liquid so when heating it the next day I add some water to each bowl of soup.

Pasta Fagioli (from Rachael Ray)

2 T extra-virgin olive oil                                

1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme                                           

2 dried bay leaves
1 medium onion, finely chopped                   

1 small carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped                           

4 large cloves garlic, chopped
Coarse salt and pepper                                  

2 cans cannellini beans
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes                   

2 cups water                        

1 quart veggie stock                                      

1 1/2 cups ditalini (pasta)
Heat a deep pot over medium high heat and add oil, herbs, bay leaf, chopped vegetables, and garlic. Season vegetables with salt and pepper.   Cook until they begin to soften.  Add beans, tomato sauce, water, and stock to pot and raise heat to high. Bring soup to a rapid boil and add pasta. Reduce heat to medium and cook soup, stirring occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes or until pasta is cooked al dente. Remove bay leaf from soup. Let soup rest and begin to cool for a few minutes.

Yield: 6 BIG servings