Low Fat Pasta Soup with Beans

Pasta soup is one of Tobi's favorites.

Though I'm not really a fan of soups, he is crazy about them. He loves all kinds of soup: pasta soup, chowders, creams, chilled soups, vegetable soups, potato soup, etc.

Therefore we are always happy to find a soup recipe, that I like, too :-)

You'll love this recipe, because it's healthy, nutritious, delicious and easy to prepare. The consistency is quite heavy and the pasta and beans will make you feel full and satisfied after only one plate.

Talk about how convenient this is!!

Ingredients
Makes 4 servings

• 2/3 cup dried beans
• 4 cups water to soak beans
• 5 cups water
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 ounce pancetta
• 1 tablespoon instant beef bouillon granules
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup packaged dried small pasta
• 4 teaspoons olive oil (optional)

Directions
1. Rinse beans. In a large saucepan combine beans and 4 cups water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. (Or, skip boiling the water and soak beans overnight in a covered pan.)

2. Drain and rinse the soaked beans. In the same pan combine beans, the 5 cups fresh water, onion, carrot, celery, crumbled pancetta or bacon, bouillon granules, garlic, sage, marjoram, and pepper.

Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until beans are tender.* Slightly mash beans in saucepan.

Stir in uncooked pasta. Increase heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes or just until pasta is tender. To serve, ladle into soup bowls. If desired, drizzle each serving with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Makes 4 main-dish servings.

Serve and Enjoy!

Nutritional Information
Sorry, no nutritional information, this recipe was taken from the E-Cookbook Library

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