The first of the winter soup pots, so happy!  I love homemade soup, I could and sometimes do live off it during the winter months.  This one comes from “Todd Wilbur’s Top Secret Recipes” and was amazingly delicious!  Can’t wait to have a bowl for lunch today as soup is almost always better the next day.

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, diced (1 cup)

1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)

3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes with liquid

1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans with liquid

1 (15 oz) can Great Northern beans with liquid

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce

1 (12 oz) can V8 juice

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 pound ditali pasta

1  Brown ground beef over medium heat.  Drain off most off fat.

2  Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and saute for 10 minutes.

3  Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.

4  About 50 minutes into simmering, cook pasta according to package directions.

5  Add pasta to soup.  Simmer 5 – 10 minutes more.

(So here’s what I did – I browned the ground beef then added everything except the pasta to my crock pot and cooked it on high for about 6 hours.  I cooked the pasta according to package directions and added it to the soup right before serving.  I also add another cup of V8 with the pasta because after adding the pasta the soup was incredibly thick.)