Pasta e Fagioli

When I was growing up, my Mother made a delicious concoction that tasted like Italian soup. She would say the name so fast that I always though the name of it was, 'fazool." My mom grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, she she is an amazing cook...I like pretty much anything she makes, but the soup was one of my favorites.

I saw a recipe on Facebook a couple of days ago for the Olive Garden version of Pasta e Fagioli...which is the soup that my mom made! I've never made it before, so I decided to give it a go. We had a pretty decent snowfall all day yesterday, and I thought a chunky soup would just be perfect for dinner.

Here's the snow around 11AM...

And here's the snow about 4PM...

Here's the recipe I followed...Top Secret Recipes Pasta e Fagioli ...for the most part. I did add one chopped green bell pepper to the vegetable mix, and I added 1 teaspoon of hot pepper flakes to the mix- we do like it spicy!!

I also cooked the pasta separately. I put the warmed pasta in the bottom of the bowl and ladled the saucy soup over the top. I also stored the pasta separately for future servings...or else the soup would be too thick.

It was delicious...but we have enough leftover for an army!

It reminded me so much of the soup that my mom made...a wonderful memory on a snowy night. Love you, Mom :) Thanks for the cooking skills you passed on to me!