slow cooker pasta e fagioli soup freezer pack

Slow Cooker

Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Soup Freezer Pack

Drescription

Your favorite restaurant soup just got easier and healthier with this freezer-to-crock-pot recipe. If you keep a special bottle of olive oil on hand for stand-out dishes, this is the recipe to pull it out for. The headiness of the fruity olive oil truly elevates the flavors in this Italian meal-prep slow-cooker soup.

Ingredients

2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 pound cooked meal-prep sheet-pan chicken thighs, diced
4 cups cooked whole-wheat rotini pasta
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 teaspoons dried italian seasoning
¼ teaspoon salt
1 (15 ounce) can no-salt-added white beans, rinsed
4 cups baby spinach (half of a 5-ounce box)
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, divided (optional)
2 tablespoons best-quality extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Directions

Place onions, carrots and celery in a large sealable plastic bag. Place cooled cooked chicken and cooked pasta together in another bag. Seal both bags and freeze for up to 5 days. Defrost the bags in the refrigerator overnight before proceeding.
Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large slow cooker. Add broth, Italian seasoning and salt. Cover and cook on Low for 7 1/4 hours.
Add beans, spinach, 2 tablespoons basil, if using, and the defrosted chicken and pasta. Cook for 45 minutes more. Ladle the soup into bowls. Drizzle a little oil into each bowl and top with cheese and the remaining 2 tablespoons basil, if desired.

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About a year ago I had a wonderful dish of halibut cheeks served with grilled baby leeks and asparagus and a spring onion soubise at one of our favorite Providence restaurants, La Laiterie. That soubise has haunted me, and I’ve been waiting for just the right opportunity to try my hand at making a similar sauce at home. When this challenge was announced, I thought the super sweet Bomster scallops (from Stonington, CT) that we get at our local farmers market would pair beautifully, and happily I was right. The delicate onion flavor, in this instance enhanced with a hint of anise-y tarragon and the subtle tang of (you guessed it) crème fraiche, played really well with the caramelized scallops, and the pale green color of the sauce whispered “spring.” -

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