Need a hearty meal to feed a crowd? I absolutely loved the Pasta Fazool (apparently “Fazool” is slang, who knew?) by Jeff Mauro, from Food Network.
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion, finely diced, about ⅔ cup
- 2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic, jarred minced
- ¼ cup dry white wine (I didn't have any, so I subbed water, it still tasted great)
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 15 -ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15-ounce can light red kidney beans
- 1 28 -ounce can crushed tomatoes with basil
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup small pasta, I used Mini Penne, mainly because it's fun to say Mini Penne!
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces), or any good cheese will work
- 1 cup roughly chopped fresh basil (optional- I didn't use in my version, I used tomatoes with basil and called it good.)
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Add the onion, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and a couple pinches of salt to the pan and saute, stirring frequently, until the onion is softened, 5-6 minutes. Stir in the garlic.
- Stir in the wine or water, and bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Add the chicken stock, beans, tomatoes and 1 cup water to the pot. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.
- Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 8 to 12 minutes.
- Serve hot with a sprinkle of cheese on top.
The two main differences between my version of this wonderful home cooked soup are hamburger was subbed in for pancetta, and I didn’t blend the soup at all. Jeff’s “Pasta Fazool” calls for blending the soup with an immersion blender before adding the noodles. I liked it the way it was, so I didn’t bother.
I made a few other small changes, but I loved the results so much, I’m thinking of making it again and more closely following Jeff’s version. After all, it will taste completely different with Pancetta, rather than hamburger!
I hope you like this recipe! Thanks for stopping by:)