Italian Hillside Garden Soup

yum yum yum!

This week for Crock Pot Monday (should I copyright this or what?!) we decided to make some soup! I LOVEEEE  tortellini so I thought this would be the perfect soup to make. It also has lots of veggies too so that was a plus. I had to wake up early to make this since it takes SEVEN HOURS! (The one and only downfall of crock pots... and I also like to wake up at noon everyday so...) But this recipe was really cheap to make which I am always into!

This recipe was also from my Crock Pot Recipe Collection cookbook. So far this book has not failed me! Thanks Aunt Gracie!

Here are the ingredients:

Look at all those vegetables!

First you need to chop the bell pepper, onion and celery. Then you heat oil in a skillet and cook the vegetables for 4 minutes or until the onions are clear. This is really the "hardest" part and its really easy.

Then you put the cooked veggies in the greased crock pot and add the tomatoes with juice, navy beans, zucchini, green beans, broth and garlic powder. As for the navy beans, I had no idea what those were and could not find them at Safeway so I called my resident cooking expert, DAD. He said to just get white beans. This was confusing since the recipe clearly called for NAVY beans, but much to my surprise, printed on top of the white bean cans it read NAVY BEANS. I don't understand, but you can just go ahead and get white beans instead of navy. You cook this all on LOW for 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 1/2 hours. 

After you cook it for 7 hours you turn the slow cooker to high and add the tortellini. You cook these for 20-25 minutes or until the pasta is tender. When it is done you add in the basil and garnish each serving with cheese. I didn't have fresh basil so I used dried and it was just fine!

This soup was SO GOOD! I was worried it wouldn't be that flavorful because I only added a little bit of garlic powder, but it was perfect and it tasted even better the next day. Overall, it was a success. Kelsey and Sam loved the soup as well and gobbled it right up. 

Spoiler Alert: I am making Chicken Parmesan on Monday! 

Italian Hillside Garden Soup

Crock Pot Recipe Collection

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, undrained
• 1 can (15 1/2 ounces) navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 cup frozen cut green beans, thawed
• 2 cans (14 ounces each) chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 packaged (9 ounces) refrigerated sausage or cheese filled tortellini pasta
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil
• grated asiago or parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add bell pepper, onion and celery. Cook and stir 4 minutes or until onions are translucent. Transfer to 50quart Crock-Pot slow cooker.
2. Add tomatoes with juice, navy beans, zucchini, green beans, broth and garlic powder. Cover; cook on LOW 7 hours or HIGH 3 1/2 hours.
3. Turn Crock-Pot slow cooker to HIGH. Add tortellini and cook on HIGH 20 to 25 minutes longer or until pasta is tender. Stir in basil. Garnish each serving with cheese.

Makes 6 servings.