Pasta Fagoli Soup

There are tons of recipes for this fantastic soup online, but this is how I make it.  This soup... it can make the coldest, yuckiest day okay.  It's so warm and delicious.

Here's whatcha need:

• Big ol' giant stock pot... I love mine so much.  Especially when it's full of soup :)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 lb. mild italian sausage (if you buy links, you will need to squeeze it out of the casing)
• 1 head of celery, diced
• 1 lb shredded carrots (it's best to buy the pre-shredded ones in the salad section, or you can shred 'em yourself)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 54 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 96 ounces beef STOCK (I don't like broth... more sodium, less flavor)
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. Tabasco to taste
• 1 pound of your favorite pasta
• Parmesan cheese

Heat up that stock pot on medium-high and add the olive oil. 

Drop in your Italian sausage... I spared you the pics of me squeezing it out of the casing... It's just wrong.  I prefer to buy the ground Italian sausage, but when the links are all you can find or they are on sale, it's perfectly fine to use those... you just have to do the dirty work of removing them from the casing.  

Dice up the celery, onion, and shred your carrots if you have to, and throw them in the pot.  

Let everything get all happy.

Now, let's throw our liquidy friends in.

First, the spaghetti sauce.

Then, tomatoes.

Then, beef stock.  

Now, the beans.

Now a dash or two of Tabasco sauce... This is all up to you.  You can add more or less, depending on your taste.

Now, we wait... We want the soup to come to a boil and simmer for a bit just so the flavors can get all yummy together.  

When the soup is boiling, I pull out enough for a "first round" for my family and put it into a smaller pot on medium-high and add a little pasta.  If you were serving a huge crowd, you could add the whole bag of pasta to the giant pot at this point, but when I know we are going to have leftovers, I prefer to add pasta to small batches so it doesn't get all gloopy.  

When the pasta is al dente, dish it out to your eagerly awaiting family.

Add some yummy Parmesan cheese to the top.  Mmmmmm. 

ENJOY!