CrockPot Pasta Fagoli Soup

Ingredients

1 pound Lean Ground Beef (97% lean)
1 medium Yellow Onion (peeled and diced)
5 medium Carrots (peeled and diced)
2 stalks Celery (diced)
14.5 ounces Canned Diced Tomatoes (drained)
6 ounces Canned Tomato Paste
15 ounces Canned Cannellini Beans (rinsed and drained)
15 ounces Canned Red Kidney Beans (rinsed and drained)
3 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 cups Cabbage (shredded)
2 cups Ditalini Pasta
1 whole Bay Leaf
32 ounces Beef Stock
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Directions

Add the hamburger and chopped onions to a medium skillet on the stove-top. Brown and crumble the meat and cook until cooked through and the onions are translucent. Drain excess grease off the hamburger and add meat mixture to the bottom of a 6 quart or larger slow cooker.

Add the carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato paste, beans, garlic, basil, oregano, pepper, bay leaf, cabbage and beef stock into the slow cooker and stir everything together.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or until the carrots are nice and tender.

During the last 1/2 hour of the cooking time on the soup cook the 2 cups of pasta on the stove top according to the directions on the pasta package.

Add the pasta to the soup right before serving.

Taste soup and add salt and pepper to suit your tastes.

Serve hot bowls of soup with shredded Parmesan cheese over top.