Pasta e Fagioli

Step 1

In a large stock pot over medium high heat, brown your ground beef. You want to make sure you get good color on this meat as it will develop a ton of flavor for this dish.

Step 2

While the beef is cooking wash and cut all of your vegetables. Cut the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic into a small dice and roughly chop the spinach into smaller pieces.

Step 3

Once the beef has finished browning, remove it from the pot and set aside but leave all of the grease that was rendered off in the pan. If you have more than 2 or 3 tablespoons of grease, you can remove anything in excess of this if you wish.

Step 4

You should now have 2-3 tablespoons of the beef fat heating in the stock pot over medium high heat, add in the crushed red pepper to bloom the spices for a few seconds and then add in the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Season lightly with salt, add the oregano, and cook until the onions have become translucent and are beginning to take on color.

Step 5

After the vegetables have cooked for 5-10 minutes, add the beef back to the pot. Add the petite diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, both cans of beans, the chicken broth, water, and macaroni noodles. Stir to combine and bring to a light boil.

Step 6

Once boiling, cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium low and allow the noodles to soften. It should only take a few minutes.

Step 7

After the noodles have cooked, add in your chopped spinach, allow it to wilt into the mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 8

This recipe makes 7 servings. Divide the total amount evenly into your 7 containers.