Paste e Fagoli and a GIVEAWAY!

As a preferred blogger for CSN Stores, I have the opportunity to host another giveaway for one of you fine readers!  Yay!  By now you all know that CSN Stores has over 200 online stores with a ton of different items to choose from.  You need new dining chairs?  No problem.  What about a ceiling fan?  They got it.  Or how about a tool case?  You know they have one!  And now is your chance to get something that you need!  Those great folks at CSN Stores have offered one of my lucky readers a $50 gift code to any of their sites.

I’ll be randomly selecting one lucky reader to win this GIVEAWAY!  There are 3 ways to enter and all entries must be received by midnight (AZ Time) on Saturday, November 6th and here’s how you enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me which what restaurant recipe you wish you had the “copycat” recipe for

2. Follow ME on Twitter @saraboff, or if you already do, let me know

3. Become a Follower of Sara’s Sweets, or let me know if you already are

*Please leave separate comments to let me know that you’re a follower on Twitter or of the blog.

And now onto today’s recipe!  I enjoy Olive Garden very much.  I could go there and eat soup, salad and breadsticks all the time.  Actually, I could go there and just make a meal out of the breadsticks…but that’s besides the point.  One of their soups that I like is Pasta e Fagoli, and it just so happens that in my Top Secret Restaurant Recipe cookbook, there is a  recipe for it!  This soup is delicious.  It’s full of beans, meat and little, funny shaped pasta that I’ve never bought before!  Plus, it is hearty, it’s warm and it’s just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  It’s perfect dinner or lunch a winter day! Now if only I had the recipe for the breadsticks from Olive Garden…

Enjoy!

Ingredients.

Mmmm!

Pasta e Fagoli, Copycat Recipe from Olive Garden

Printer-Friendly Version

Ingredients

• 1 pound Ground beef
• 1 small Onion
• 1 large Carrot
• 3 stalks Celery
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 2 14.5-oz cans Diced tomatoes
• 1 15-oz can Red kidney beans
• 1 15-oz can Great northern beans
• 1 15-oz can Tomato sauce
• 1 12-oz can V-8 juice
• 1 tablespoon White vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 teaspoon Oregano
• 1 teaspoon Basil
• 1/2 teaspoon Freshly-ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Thyme
• 1/2 pound Ditali pasta

Directions

1. Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Drain off most of the fat. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic; sauté for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients (except pasta), and simmer for 1 hour.
2. About 50 minutes into simmer time, cook the pasta in 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of boiling water over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes or just until pasta is al dente, or slightly tough. Drain.
3. Add the pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes and serve.

Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup

Hola amigos!  For Christmas, I got a new cookbook called, “Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2.”  It has a bunch of delicious sounding recipes from places such as Applebees’s, Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, Outback and Chili’s.  There’s even a website that the book is based on.  Last week, Jeremy picked out a recipe to make for dinner and he decided on Chili’s Enchilada Soup.

Since we live in Po-dunk, USA and don’t have a lot of chain-restaurants, we visit Chili’s often and I can’t say that I ever remember seeing a chicken enchilada soup on their menu.  Have you?  Maybe it’s because I don’t really look at the soups there.  I usually look at the burgers or the chicken fajita pita because that’s what makes me think of Chili’s.  Anyway…

A main component of this soup in cheese…but not real cheese…Velveeta cheese.  I have mixed feeling about Velveeta.  First of all, it comes in a box.  What kind of cheese comes in a box!?  Secondly, it’s kind of rubbery.  What kind of cheese is rubbery!?  Lastly, it’s “pasteurized cheese product.”  Not just cheese, but “cheese product.”  That creeps me out a bit.  But oh well, it’s not like I eat it everyday…or even more than once a year, for that matter. 

Beside the Velveeta, this soup was pretty good!  It’s thick and cheesy and really tastes like enchiladas!  We cut the recipe in half, since it’s just the two of us and that still gave us enough leftovers for lunch the following day.  So, if you like cheese and you like enchiladas, I’d highly recommend that you try out this soup…or just go to Chili’s and taste it there.

Enjoy!

Ingredients.

  

Topped with crushed tortilla chips and green onion.

It’s good!

Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup, by Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2

Ingredients

• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 1lb skinless, boneless chicken breast
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 cup masa harina (corn flour)
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup enchilada sauce
• one 16 oz box of Velveeta, diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Directions

1. Add 1 tbs oil to a large pot over medium heat.  Add chicken breast to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes per side.  Set chicken aside.
2. Add onion and garlic to pot and saute over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until onion begins to become translucent.  Add chicken broth.
3. Combine masa harina with 2 cups of water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended.  Add masa harina mixture to pot with onion, garlic and broth.
4. Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices to pot and bring mixture to a boil.
5. Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot.  Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick.
6. Serve soup in cups or bowls and garnish with shredded cheese, crumbled tortilla chips and/or a spoonful of your favorite salsa or pico de gallo.

Makes approximately 12 servings.

***By the way, if you have a dog be sure to stop by my other blog because I’m having a “Dog-gone GIVEWAY!”  Enter by Wednesday, January 27th.