Pasta e Fagioli (with carne)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb. ground turkey (optional)
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 small can tomato paste
• splash of red wine
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 pound seashell pasta (or macaroni or whatever)

Directions

1. Heat oil in 4-quart Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until onion is tender.
2. Add ground turkey and stir occasionally until browned. Stir in the tomato paste until blended.
3. Add undrained tomatoes, undrained cannellini beans, chicken broth, oregano, basil and pepper to Dutch oven and bring to a boil over med-high heat, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil for approximately 1 minute and then lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes, covered.
4. Add pasta to Dutch oven and simmer approximately 10 to 12 minutes or until pasta is tender. Serve immediately and enjoy.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and tweaked it a bit (above is the tweaked recipe). It's one of those recipes that you can really play with and add or take away what you don't have. The most traditional form of this soup is just beans and pasta with some tomatoes and herbs, but sometimes even the tomatoes are optional. I added the ground turkey, because I had that I needed to use up, but if you leave it out it would be a perfect Friday meal. I also added 1/4 cup or so of red wine after I stirred in the tomato paste and it really added to the flavor. It was a really delish and filling dinner. All of my finicky eaters gobbled it up.