Instant Pot Olive Garden Copycat Pasta e Fagioli

Instant Pot Olive Garden Copycat Pasta e Fagioli tastes even better than the restaurant version. This healthy Pasta e Fagioli Soup will warm your soul any day, loaded with protein packed beans, Italian sausage, tomatoes & an amazing bunch of seasonings.

PREP TIME: 5 minutes

COOK TIME: 20 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 25 minutes

SERVINGS: 6

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound Italian Ground Pork Sausage (**Use mild or spicy. You can use 1:1 ground beef : Sausage 16 ounces total)

15 ounces Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed

15 ounces Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed

14 ounces Diced Tomatoes (**with juices. I used Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Oregano & Garlic)

8 ounces Tomato Sauce

2 tablespoons Tomato Paste (**diluted in about 4 tablespoons water)

1 cup Onion (**roughly chopped. Use yellow or white onion

1 1./2 tablespoon Garlic (**minced)

3/4 cup Carrot (**roughly cubed)

3/4 cup Celery (**roughly chopped. About 2 sticks.)

1 cup Ditalini Pasta (**you can used small elbow or shell pasta. Use 3/4 cups in that case)

3 tablespoon Olive Oil

Salt (to taste)

1 teaspoon Paprika

1/4 teaspoon Oregano (**dried from the bottle)

1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (**dried from the bottle)

1 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (**skip if heat intolerant. Use 1 1/2 teaspoons if you want really spicy soup.)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

6 cups Chicken Stock (**use 7-7 1/2 cups for thinner soup. You can also use 4 Better Than Bouillon Cubes diluted in 6 cups of hot water.)

Parsley (**fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped, use handful)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (**drizzle the soup)

Parmesan Cheese (**grated. If desired.)

Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Set the Instant Pot on SAUTE & set it on HIGH heat. Add oil. When the oil becomes hot gently add the ground meat and saute the meat until nicely browned. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon.

2. Once, the meat is well browned add the chopped onion & garlic and saute for about 1 minute.

3. Now, throw in the chopped carrots and celery and give everything a good stir. Saute for another minute.

4. Pour chicken stock. Deglaze the pot very well scraping the sides & the bottom of the pot with the help of a wooden spoon. This will loosen any stuck food particles and prevent the BURN error.

5. Next, add all the seasonings (paprika, oregano, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes & salt.)Give everything in the pot a good stir.

6. Add the tomatoes, canned beans (rinsed well and drained), pasta. Give everything in the pot a very good mix.

7. CANCEL the SAUTE function. Close the lid of the Instant Pot. Seal the Valve and Pressure Cook on HIGH for just 4 minutes. The pressure will take some time to build because it's a large quantity soup.

8. Once, the Pressure cooking cycle is over the Instant Pot will begin to beep. Immediately perform a quick pressure release (QPR) by manually moving the valve from SEALING to VENTING position. Open the lid very carefully after the lock disengages.

9. The amazing wholesome Instant Pot Pasta e Fagioli is ready, You need to serve the soup almost immediately because the longer the pasta sits in the soup and more it get's over cooked & turn mushy.

10. Garnish with some chopped fresh parsley, black pepper, grated Parmesan cheese and drizzles of extra virgin olive oil. Dig in!

RECIPE NOTES:

1. IMPORTANT: Serve the soup immediately as the pasta tends to absorb a lot of liquid, get over cooked and turn mushy the longer it sits in the soup.

2. GROUND MEAT: We chose Ground Italian Mild Pork Sausage. You can also use ground beef and pork sausage in the 1 : 1 ratio. You can also make the soup with only ground beef if you'd like.

3. BEST PASTA: We vote for Ditalini. However, you can use small elbow or shell pasta. In that case use no more than 3/4 cups. 1/2 cup or 3/4 cups would be a good choice for today's soup.

4. HOW TO STORE THE SOUP IN THE FRIDGE? Is you plan to store it in the fridge I would skip cooking the pasta in the soup, because the pasta will absorb a lot of liquid the longer it sits in the soup & turns mushy. Cook the pasta separately & mix in the soup bowl while serving only if you plan to store the soup in the fridge.

5. STORING TIPS: For storing or freezing the Pasta e Fagioli Soup I would recommend that you leave out the pasta and add some cooked pasta later to the soup while re-heating it. The pasta will completely mush up if you freeze or store the soup along with it. The soup will also become drier as the pasta continues absorbing the liquid.

6. SEASONINGS: Play around with the bunch of seasonings and add more or add less according to your liking.

7. BASIL: You can add some dried basil in the soup especially if you add regular canned diced tomatoes. I skipped adding the basil because the canned diced tomatoes I used had basil in them.

8. EXTRA FLAVOR: I would highly recommend using canned diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, & garlic. It would almost instantly face lift the soup. Avoid using regular canned diced tomatoes. You can sub the chicken stock with beef stock if you'd like.

9. THE PASTA E FAGIOLI CONSISTENCY: Today's soup has a medium consistency, it's not super thin nor very thick. If you prefer thinner soups add 7 or 7 1/2 cups of stock.

10. HEAT INTOLERANT: Skip the red pepper flakes.

11. HATE KIDNEY BEANS? Sub them with a can of garbanzo beans. We love these creamy, nutty beans so much. YUM!