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Ingredients
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
- 1/4 pound bacon or pancetta, chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 onions, chopped fine
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped very fine
- 4 cups chicken or turkey stock, homemade if available
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 2 (19-ounce) cans cannellini beans, well drained, divided
- 1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, well drained
- 1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes, seeded and chopped, liquid drained
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried ground thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) ditalini or other tubular pasta
- 1 cup cooked orzo
- 1 carrot, shredded
- Parmigiano, as a garnish
- Chopped basil, as a garnish
Directions
Place a large, heavy soup pot, over medium heat. Cook the sausage links with a small amount of water, covered, until the sausage has browned, about 10 minutes.
Remove sausages to a plate and let cool. Once cooled chop into pieces and then use a food processor to finely ground the sausage pieces. Brown the bacon/pancetta in the same pot as used for the sausage links, using a little olive oil if necessary. When the bacon/pancetta is browned, not crisped, add back to the pot the chopped sausage and ground beef, and cook until both have browned, about 15 minutes.
Next add the onions, celery, and garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the stock and skim (recommend use of a gravy separator) to remove excess fat. Continue to cook at a simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.
In a food processor, blend tomato sauce with 1 cup cannellini beans until smooth. Pour the mixture into the pot then add the remaining cannellini beans, kidney beans, tomatoes and herbs. After 5 minutes, add the pasta and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the orzo and carrots and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Add more water or stock if necessary to produce a thick stew like consistency. Serve with grated Parmigiano and chopped basil.
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By operaman2
on April 29, 2011
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I'm the author of the recipe (singing much better than when I taped the episode, by the way!. I appreciate all the kind comments. There are several questions about the orzo - the only reason I added it was to try to give a little different texture. I would agree that it is really not necessary. If you are going to freeze it, do leave the pasta out. The recipe is meant as a starting point - feel free to add stock (I often do but I'd advise using a low-salt one. I usually bake a loaf of focaccia, topped with kosher salt and rosemary, to serve with it (and to have something to scrape the bowl with!. Enjoy!
By jhamilton982
Michigan
on December 28, 2010
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Fabulous! Highly recommend this recipe - delicious! I added two bay leaves and needed about 7 cups of stock. Delicious - served with fresh Italian bread.
By itinerantb_11455775
Conifer, CO
on December 22, 2010
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This places in the top three of all the recipes(at least50I've tried from this website. It's true what others said about the amount of chicken stock-if you want a soup/stew you'll need a lot more. I used probably over 6 cups of stock and 1 1/2 cups of red wine. The store was lacking in italian sausage so I used chicken apple brats instead. I processed five links and added it to the bacon. One doesn't really need the orzo, given the other pasta, and definitely keep it separate, adding the pasta to the bowls just before the soup. I'm obsessive about putting bay leaves in soups and sauces, so added that too. A little fresh parmesan sprinkled over the top and it's a hearty delicious meal.
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