Soup's On!

Lloyd: "What is the soup du jour?"
Waitress: "It's the Soup of the Day."
Lloyd: "Mmmmm…that sounds good, I'll have that."

Oh that's the best Dumb and Dumber quote!

I love this soup. It's easy, and it tastes just like Olive Garden's version.


Pasta Fagioli

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

* 1 lb ground beef
* 1 cup diced onion
* 1 cup julienned carrot
* 3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
* 1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans (with liquid)
* 1 (15 ounce) can great northern beans (with liquid)
* 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 1 (12 ounce) can v-8 vegetable juice
* 1 teaspoon vinegar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* 1 teaspoon basil
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon thyme
* 1/2 lb ditali pasta



Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs

1. Brown beef in a large stock pot over medium heat-drain off fat.
2. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and saute for 10 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.
4. After 50 minutes boil pasta to al dente.
5. Drain well.
6. Add pasta to the large pot of soup and simmer for 10 minutes.

(Weight Watchers Points for 1 Serving: 7).

Tip: I cook the noodles, drain and store separately in a ziploc bag. I add the cooked noodles to the soup right before serving. If not, the noodles will absorb all of your broth. The longer you have noodles in your soup, the more likely you'll have goulash.