Hey y'all. Today I had lunch with my friend, Laura, over at Olive Garden. For some reason, we just adore the soup, salad, and breadsticks there...oh, and the peach bellini ice tea is to die for! Yummmm!

So, in honor of my Olive Garden lunch, I am posting this copy-cat recipe I found on the internet, on a site called CDKitchen.com and it seems authentic as a waitress at Olive Garden told me once that spaghetti sauce is the secret ingredient for the soup. I have got to make this at home. I LOVE pasta e fagiloi!!!! And gaZoo's!

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Recipe

Ingredients:

3 teaspoons Oil
2 pounds Ground beef
12 ounces Onion; chopped
14 ounces Carrots; slivered
14 ounces Celery; diced
48 ounces Tomatoes; canned, diced
2 cups cooked Red Kidney beans
2 C cooked White kidney beans
88 ounces Beef stock
3 teaspoons Oregano
2 1/2 teaspoons Pepper
5 teaspoons Parsley; (fresh chopped)
1 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
48 ounces Spaghetti sauce
8 ounces dry pasta Shell macaroni; or other pasta

Directions:

Preparation: Sauté beef in oil in large 10-qt. pot until beef starts to brown. Add onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot. Also add beef stock, oregano, pepper, Tabasco, spaghetti sauce, and noodles. Add chopped parsley. Simmer until celery and carrots are tender, about 45 minutes. Makes 9 qts. of soup!

**Just cut the recipe in 1/2 for smaller family needs!
This copycat recipe for Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli serves/makes 9 qts.

**photo courtesy of olivegarden.com