Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagioli
I have made this recipe several times and it is very good and very close to what you get at the Olive Garden. I cooked it in the pressure cooker this time, but have also cooked it on top of the stove. It makes a LOT!
I have made this recipe several times and it is very good and very close to what you get at the Olive Garden. I cooked it in the pressure cooker this time, but have also cooked it on top of the stove. It makes a LOT!
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 small onion diced 1 cup
- 1 large carrot julienned 1 cup
- 3 stalks celery chopped 1 cup
- 2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes
- 1 15-oz can red kidney beans with liquid
- 1 15-oz can great northern beans with liquid
- 1 15-oz can tomato sauce
- 1 12-oz can v-8 juice
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 1/2 pound ditali pasta (1/2 package)
- Carbohydrate 42.1334560529333 g
- Cholesterol 44.50875130625 mg
- Fat 4.01167924287708 g
- Fiber 9.37087619721553 g
- Protein 24.5347321903875 g
- Saturated Fat 1.49078310994729 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (424g)
- Sodium 424.412786786458 mg
- Sugar 32.7625798557178 g
- Trans Fat 0.502840702768542 g
- Calories 297 calories
Step-by-step
- Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat.
- Drain off most of the fat.
- Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic; saut for 10 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients (except pasta), and simmer for 1 hour.
- About 50 minutes into simmer time, cook the pasta in 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of boiling water over high heat.
- Cook for 10 minutes or just until pasta is al dente, or slightly tough.
- Drain.
- Add the pasta to the large pot of soup.
- Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes and serve.
Deep brick-red broth carries the robust heft of ground beef, tender rounds of carrots, ribbed celery, and a soft backdrop of beans, all clinging to small tubular pieces of pasta. Hearty soups built on a foundation of canned beans, tomato sauce, and vegetable juice require careful navigation when shifting batch sizes up or down. Historically rooted in rural Italian traditions of stretching modest pantry staples into filling midday meals, this particular iteration demands specific procedural attention to yield balanced results across different yields.
Scaling Proportions and Managing Yields
Halving or doubling a recipe featuring canned tomato products, V-8 juice, and varied aromatics involves more than simply multiplying numbers by two or dividing by half. Aromatics like onions, carrots, and celery shrink during the initial 10-minute saute as moisture evaporates, meaning a halved batch requires slightly higher heat control to prevent scorching in a smaller pan. Doubling the volume necessitates a stockpot holding at least eight quarts to ensure adequate convection during the one-hour simmer. Salt must be adjusted conservatively when reducing liquids down, because sodium concentrates rapidly as water escapes through steam. Pasta quantities require independent scaling based on consumption speed; never dump raw pasta directly into a large pot unless the entire batch will be consumed within twenty-four hours.
- Cook pasta separately in boiling water until it reaches a firm al dente texture to prevent starch breakdown in the main broth.
- Drain the cooked ditali thoroughly before adding it to the simmering soup base to avoid diluting the tomato flavor profile.
- Store leftover pasta and soup broth in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to four days to preserve structural integrity.
- Reheat individual portions on the stovetop over medium-low heat, adding a splash of water if the starch has absorbed too much liquid overnight.
