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    Home » Recipes » Soups » Grandma's Italian Pasta Fagioli Recipe

    Published: Apr 19, 2021 · Modified: Sep 11, 2022 by Cari · This post may contain affiliate links. · Leave a Comment

    Grandma's Italian Pasta Fagioli Recipe

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    Sometimes called Pasta fazool, this soup is hearty, filling and even when I am so sick that I can't taste anything, I can pick up the rich flavor in the soup. Serve it with some crusty bread or garlic toast and you've got an entire meal.

    Semi-Homemade Italian Pasta Fagioli Recipe

    Few people know that growing up, I had an Italian family living next door to me. Mrs. Attardo was the closest thing I had to a grandmother growing up and I can vividly remember her making this semi-homemade Italian soup.

    I've been making this pasta fagioli soup instead of chicken soup whenever I'm sick for the last couple of years now. Even though this is considered a "peasant dish," it is one of my go-to meals when I need comforting.

    You may have heard or even tried this soup at Olive Garden, but this one is a hundred times better.

    Ingredients

    Italian sausage
    yellow onion
    carrots
    celery
    minced garlic
    low sodium beef broth
    water
    tomato pasta
    your favorite marinara sauce 
    granulated sugar
    fresh basil
    fresh rosemary
    bay leaf
    oregano
    fresh thyme
    salt and black pepper
    red kidney beans
    cannellini beans
    ditalini pasta
    parmesan and fresh minced parsley for garnish

    Directions

    • In a large dutch oven pot over medium high heat, crumble in Italian sausage and cook, stirring until cooked through.
    • Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium-high heat until tender, add garlic and saute 1 minute longer.
    • Add beef broth, tomato paste, marinara, sugar, basil, oregano and thyme.
    • Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, cover with lid and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
    • Add dry ditalini pasta, water, red kidney beans and cannellini beans to soup and cook on low until the pasta is al dente (about 5 more minutes)
    • Season with salt and pepper to taste.
    • Serve warm with Parmesan cheese and parsley sprinkled over the top
    pasta fagioli recipe

    Variations

    Trying to cut back on your carb intake? Simply omit the ditalini pasta and reduce the amount of beans by half

    Beef or Pork?

    For this pasta fagioli soup recipe, I prefer using spicy pork sausage. I feel it adds a lot more flavor to the soup vs. using ground beef. You can always opt for mild sausage if you're not big on heat. if your don't consume pork products, you can swap out the pork for 80/20 ground beef. If you swap out to beef, I suggest increasing the spices (basil, rosemary, thyme and oregano) about ½ tsp.

    Storage

    This recipe will keep in your refrigerator for upto 5-7 days in an airtight container.

    You can also freeze this soup in an airtight container (be sure to allow about ¾-inch for liquid to expand at top of container). It will keep in your freezer for 2-3 months.

    semi-homemade pasta fagioli recipe

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    Semi-Homemade Italian Pasta Fagioli Recipe
    Print Recipe
    5 from 2 votes

    Semi-Homemade Italian Pasta Fagioli Recipe

    The Olive Garden favorite soup made at home
    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time30 mins
    Total Time40 mins
    Course: Soup
    Cuisine: Italian
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 666kcal
    Author: Cari

    Ingredients

    • 2 lb of italian sausage with no casing I prefer it spicy!
    • 1 chopped yellow onion
    • 2 large sliced carrots
    • 3 stalks of thinly sliced celery
    • 5 cloves of minced garlic
    • 1 32 oz. container of low sodium beef broth
    • 1 cup of water
    • 2 tablespoon of tomato paste
    • 1 32 oz jar of your favorite Marinara sauce I used Rao's
    • 2 teaspoon granulated sugar
    • 1 ½ teaspoon minced fresh basil
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • ¾ teaspoon fresh thyme
    • Salt and freshly ground black pepper season to taste
    • 1 16 oz can of red beans
    • 1 16 oz can of cannellini beans
    • 1 cup dry ditalini pasta
    • parmesan and fresh minced parsley for garnish

    Instructions

    • In a large pot over medium high heat, crumble in Italian sausage and cook, stirring until cooked through.
    • Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium-high heat until tender, add garlic and saute 1 minute longer.
    • Add beef broth, tomato paste, marinara, sugar, basil, oregano and thyme.
    • Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, cover with lid and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
    • Add dry ditalini, water, kidney beans and cannellini beans to soup and cook on low until the pasta is al dente (about 5 more minutes)
    • Season with salt and pepper to taste.
    • Serve warm with Parmesan cheese and parsley sprinkled over the top. .

    Notes

    This recipe will keep in your refrigerator for upto 5-7 days in an airtight container.
    You can also freeze this soup in an airtight container (be sure to allow about ¾-inch for liquid to expand at top of container). It will keep in your freezer for 2-3 months.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 8oz | Calories: 666kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 1469mg | Potassium: 958mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 3581IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @FatGirlHedonist or tag #fatgirlhedonist!
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    My name is Cari and I'm the person behind FatgirlHedonist.com. I'm born and raised in Miami (Hialeah if you'd like specifics) and proud Latina. I'm a single mom to a very curious toddler. I completed a culinary program in high school that made my love of food blossom, but my career went in a very different direction. No matter what turns my life has taken, cooking, baking and eating have always been three of my favorite activities. I'm lucky enough that I can have this blog as an outlet for those three passions.

    More about me →

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