Pasta e Fagioli in the Slow Cooker

This soup is found in most Italian restaurants here on Long Island.  Amazingly, each one is different from the rest.  Inspired by the recipe from the Frugal Gourmet, I came up with this recipe.  Pasta, beans and vegetables are pretty common ingredients.  All of the ingredients in this soup were already in my pantry and freezer.  This is a great soup to make when you think you have nothing to make.  It uses up just a bit of each item so it is a good way to use up the veggies in the crisper drawer.  To make this vegetarian - omit the ham hocks and substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock.

Ingredients:

2 cups dried navy beans
1 lb ham hocks
2 Bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion
1 large carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 cups water
4 cups chicken stock
2 inch Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rind
1 TBS plus 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried thyme
1 TBS salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup ditalini, small shells, elbows or other small pasta

Here's how:

Place the beans in a large bowl. 

Pour water over the beans and cover by two inches.  Let sit overnight or at least eight hours.

Drain the beans.

Add the beans, hocks, Bay leaves, garlic cloves, onion, carrot, celery, tomatoes, water, rind, stock and 1 TBS Italian seasoning to a slow cooker covered with a liner.

Veggies and hock into the slow cooker

Liquids, beans and seasonings added

Stirred up and cooker turned on

Cook on low for 8 hours.

After 8 hours

Remove the bones and bay leaf from the pot.

Use an immersion blender or food processor to puree half the soup.

Soup pureed

Add the remaining Italian seasoning, thyme, salt, pepper and pasta.

Everything in - almost done

Let cook for 15 minutes, until the pasta is cooked through.

Soup is done and ready to eat

Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top (optional).