Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Pasta e Fagioli



There’s a lot of debate on the web as to whether this is the actual Olive Garden recipe for the soup of the same name.  This came from the Midvale 2nd Ward Cookbook - but it could be from anywhere in the world, as every “Top Secret Recipe” site claims it as their own.  If you are a recipe cloner - you'll enjoy trying this out.


My son & his cute wife travelled to Belize recently, and brought me back these beautiful, vibrant placemats & napkins from their little side trip to Guatemala to see the ruins.  It really struck me what is well-known around the world - Americans eat A LOT.  You can tell by the size of our standard dinner plates (a whopping 12” on the average, compared to 9” elsewhere in the world)  These placemats reinforce that theory - as the plate & bowl pictured here are what we call in this country luncheon size (barely 9” across - the size the rest of the world uses for dinner)  And check out the tiny napkins also.  I’ll step off my soapbox now, and tell you about the recipe. 
A little over a week ago our stake hosted a dinner prior to the General Relief Society Meeting broadcast.  We asked each ward for a number of volunteers to bring an assortment of soups and cobblers, then we provided breadsticks, garnishes, and toppings.  
It’s fun to see women rise to the occasion, then gather and enjoy each other’s company when someone else is doing the cooking.  We were naive enough to believe that only 200 women would attend, as there were several local football games going on that day (not to mention individual family sports commitments, etc.)
We were pleasantly surprised to have over 300 women there.  Each member of our presidency had decided on their own to make a large pot of soup to keep in our cars, in the unlikely event that we might run short.  Needless to say - every drop of soup and bite of cobbler was devoured.
We set out twenty crockpots - each filled with deliciously different soups.  At the end of each serving table there was an assortment of sour cream, grated cheeses, chip-strips (from Cafe Rio), cilantro, and breadsticks.  
I was glad I had doubled this recipe - which filled my oversized crockpot twice, and then some.  This is a hearty, filling soup - and very easy to put together.  You might enjoy it if you are a fan of Olive Garden “All You Can Eat Soup, Salad, & Breadsticks”...

For the recipe, go to:

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