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Continuing on with the cold weather foods, we had Crockpot Pasta Fagioli Soup the other night. Mother Nature sure is reminding us of her colossal power lately. Thanks to her though, we are able to have a few more different types of soups before the fresh fruits and vegetables start streaming into the farmer’s markets. We actually went to our first one two weekends ago but unfortunately it wasn’t impressive. Basically the only produce was meat and homemade crafts – so guess we will be waiting just a bit longer for our fresh produce. For now though, we go to soup made in the crockpot such as this one. Mmmm

This recipe was inspired by one that I found in a old manual that we received with our crockpot of all things, it’s called the Rival Crockpot Manual. Before going vegan, my husband and I used to make a lot of this during the winter months because it is really easy to setup the evening before going early to work. Simple have everything in the crockpot before leaving for work or wherever and turn on low for about 8 hours. You can also set it for four hours on high if you are going to be around sooner than 8 hours. It ends up being the perfect warm soup that has a little of everything in it and tons of protein to keep the body working during those long cold evenings.

Here’s my vegan version with changes:
16 oz soaked Great Northern Beans overnight or a can of precooked
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
7 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable broth
28oz can of diced tomatoes, with juices (I only had a can of whole and was lazy to chop up-oops)
1 cup dry shell pasta, you can cook ahead or just toss them in the mixture and they will steam away
½ tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
¼ tsp cayenne
¼ tsp liquid hot pepper sauce
2 c water
3-5 tsp dried basil

Combine all ingredients in a large crockpot. Cover and cook on low 8 hours (high 4 hours).

Note: if you want extra protein, go ahead and toss in some tvp about 30 minutes before serving. (or other meat substitute)

Sorry about the photo, it was taken at night without natural lighting.