It’s been rainy and cold here so this hearty and filling soup was just the ticket yesterday for dinner.  It comes from a blog called “Stick a Fork in it” and it fit my 3 criteria for a good recipe, easy, fast and delicious!

1 pound hamburger

1 small onion, chopped

1 large carrot, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz can diced tomatoes

15 oz can tomato sauce

15 oz can beef broth (I ended up adding another can as the soup was really thick, too thick)

15 oz can red kidney beans with liquid

15 oz can great Northern beans with liquid

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I didn’t want it to be too hot so I added 1 teaspoon pepper instead of this)

8 oz dried ditalini pasta (didn’t have ditalini so used rotini instead)

1  Brown beef in large stockpot until cooked through.  Drain grease then add onions, carrots, celery and garlic and saute for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add remaining ingredients except pasta and simmer for 1 hour.

2  Just before soup is done, cook pasta according to package directions, drain, add to soup and simmer for 5 – 10 minutes more.