Pasta Fagioli

Ok I will be the first to admit, I really like the Olive Garden.  Not for their pasta dishes (gross) but I am a sucker for their unlimited salad, soup, and breadsticks.

One of my favorite soups there is the Pasta Fagioli soup and I was wondering could I make this at home. 
I looked up a couple recipes online and I decided to pick and choose between recipes and just do the steps that I liked :)


 My version was a little different but it wasn't too far off and I felt better knowing that mine was fairly healthy.

Ingredients:

3-4 cups chicken broth
1 cup pasta (I used macaroni, you can use any small pasta shapes)
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
5 celery stalks, diced ( I would have added more but that was all I had!)
2 cloves garlic minced
1 can diced tomatoes
2 links spicy turkey sausage
1 can cannelinni beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 cup parmesan cheese or parmigano reggiano

In a large soup pan/pot sauteed garlic, peppers, celery, and onions.  Take off casing from the sausage links and add sausage and brown.  After sausage is cooked, add chicken broth, beans, and tomatoes and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and add in pasta.  Simmer until pasta is cooked.  You may want to add more broth as the pasta absorbs the broth - it is up to you and how soupy you like your soup :)

I paired the soup with some salad and garlic bread and it made for a very hearty and yummy dinner!