Pasta Fagioli

Original recipe from Crockpot Tuesdays

I am alone for dinner tonight, and soup is often one of my favorite things to pull out of the freezer when I'm on my own. I pulled a bag of Pasta Fagioli out tonight and realized I had not posted this recipe yet. I love this soup, and it's great out of the freezer. I made this recipe a while back. It makes a lot, and after a day or two, it became evident that we were not going to make it through all that soup before it went bad. I put about 3 quart bags of it in the freezer to save for another day. It froze great although the pasta is really soft. If I were making this as a freezer meal, I wouldn't technically cook the pasta. I would mix it in the hot soup after turning off the heat.

I substituted Italian sausage for the ground beef. It definitely adds to the flavor.

Pasta Fagioli
1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups beef broth
1 jar (16.5 oz) pasta sauce
2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup dry pasta (to add at end)

Directions:

Brown the meat and drain well. Add carrots, onion, and celery to the crockpot. Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper and oregano. Stir in the meat. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. At end of cook time, stir in 1/2 cup pasta. Cover and cook for another hour on low.

Serve with parmesan cheese if you’d like. Enjoy! This recipe makes about 8 generous servings.

Spanish Chorizo Chicken Chili

This is one of my very favorite freezer soups. I love it. It has a nice strong flavor and is quite hearty with all the meat. It's a perfect soup for colder months and pairs well with French bread. Rachael Ray really does have some great recipes.

Spanish Chorizo Chicken Chili

I always make a double batch and freeze it in quart bags. I have a couple adjustments:

• I use bite size chicken breast pieces instead of the ground chicken.
• Cook the chorizo in a separate pan rather than with the chicken as the recipe says. Chorizo has a great flavor, but it is seriously greasy. You want to drain the grease. Cook it in a separate frying pan while the chicken cooks, then mix together after draining.
• I leave out the sherry and most of the hot sauce.
• I use a jar of roasted red peppers instead of the piquillos.
• I use plain old cheddar on top instead of the Manchego. I don't use Spanish olives because I don't like the flavor.
• IMPORTANT: You can't substitute regular paprika for the smoked paprika. The smoked paprika makes this soup so enjoyable. I bought a large container at Sam's Club about a year ago and it's almost gone. I'm sad to report they don't carry it anymore. It's a hard spice to find. When you find it buy lots. I use it in tons of stuff--anything with a Mexican/Southwestern/Spanish influence. I love the smokey flavor.

Tamale Soup

1 TB olive oil
1 lg onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ lb chuck roast, chopped
1 (15 oz) can tomato puree
1 ½ c tomato juice
1 (14 oz) can beef broth
½ c sliced olives
½ c chopped green chilies
1 (11 oz) can Mexicorn
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 Jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 TB chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lg tomato, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 c corn chips

Sauté meat with onion, garlic and oil until meat is no longer pink. Place meat mixture and remaining ingredients (except cheese and chips) in slow cooker. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. Cool. Freeze in quart or gallon freezer bags. Remember not to fill too full or the bags will pop open in the freezer before fully frozen.
Thaw. Reheat on stove top or in microwave. Serve topped with cheese and chips.