Pasta Fagioli Soup in a Crockpot

We had a huge rain storm last week. It was cool, rainy, and really windy. It really felt like Fall and I was craving soup. So, I made a crockpot of Pasta Fagioli soup and it was the perfect meal for a stormy night.

I found this recipe of Recipe Zaar and supposedly it's a copy-cat version of the Olive Garden's Pasta Fagioli. I've never had this soup at the Olive Garden, so I can't judge the similarity of it. However, I can vouch that it was darn good. The leftovers were even better the next day! I 1/2 the recipe, since the one listed below serves 12-14.

I prepped everything the night before and simply slipped the crock into the cooker and turned the cooker on before heading out the door. I served it with garlic bread and it was delish!

Pasta Fagioli Soup in a Crockpot

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (16 ounce) can white kidney beans, drained
3 (10 ounce) cans beef stock
3 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons pepper
6 teaspoons parsley
1 (20 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
8 ounces pasta

Directions:
1. Brown beef in a skillet
2. Drain fat from beef and add to crock pot with everything except pasta.
4. Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.
5. During last 30 minutes on high or 1 hour on low add pasta.