Vegetarian Pasta Fagioli Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Sauté onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until onion is clear (approx 10 minutes). Add veggie crumbles and soy sausage and cook another 3-5 minutes.
• Add everything else except pasta, and simmer on low for one hour.
• Add pasta to bowls, ladle soup on top. Sprinkle with parmesan before serving.
• Note: If you do the first step, you can then throw this soup into the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours or so. In the last half hour, cook the pasta, and you've got a wonderful soup waiting for you at the end of a long day!
• Note the second: This recipe freezes beautifully. If you'd rather not make such quantity, you can halve it and just use one can of either chickpeas OR great northern beans.
• Note the third: If you prefer a soupier soup, add a can or two of vegetable broth, or thin with water.

Steps:

• Drizzle the olive oil into a large saute pan set over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring once or twice, for 1 minute. Splash in about 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth and scrape up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Pour into slow cooker.
• To the slow cooker, add remaining vegetable broth, cabbage, carrots, zucchini if using, beans, and tomatoes. (If you're adding 1 pound ground beef to the entire batch, you can cook and drain ground beef well and add it now.) Cook for 8 hours on low (5-6 hours on high should also do the trick).
• 30 minutes before the cooking process ends, add pasta and put lid back on the Crock Pot.* Continue cooking on low until tender.
• *At this point, if you're adding ground beef to half, set a large saucepan over medium heat, add the 1/2 pound ground beef, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, 10-15 minutes. Drain any excess fat. Transfer a little less than half the soup to the pan with the ground beef and let simmer, covered, until pasta is completely tender and soup is heated through.
• Stir in red wine vinegar (divide between separate pots if doing the half-meaty version) and taste. Add additional salt and pepper if desired.
• Serve topped with chopped parsley and/or basil, a drizzle of olive oil, and pass with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Steps:

• In a large heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.
• Stir in onion with a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add dried herbs and red pepper flakes into the oil and toss to coat to bring out some of the dried herbs' flavors.
• Stir in garlic, and then celery, and carrots and cook for about 3 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• If necessary add an additional cup of stock or water and stir in beans and tiny pasta.
• Simmer for 6-8 minutes or until pasta is tender.
• Stir in parsley and serve hot with grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.