Copycat Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup

I am OBSESSED with Olive Garden... and before you jump all over me with your "it's not real Italian food blah blah" I KNOW THAT! That doesn't mean it doesn't explode with deliciousness all over the inside of my mouth, so get off me. Sorry. Rant over. Anyway, I found about 50 versions of this recipe all over the internet and after some tweaking, this is the one I've found most successful. Now I'm gonna go eat it...

Ingredients

• 1 c. ditalini pasta, uncooked
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 Tbsp olive oil 
• 2 medium sized carrots
• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 (8oz) cans of tomato sauce
• 3 c. beef broth
• 1 c. water
• 1 (15oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (15oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15oz) can great northern beans, drained and rinsed 
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• romano or parmesan cheese to garnish

How To Cook It

• brown beef in large saucepan over med/high heat
• pour beef (and fat) into a bowl and set aside
• heat olive oil in the same large sauce pan, saute the carrots, celery and onion over med/high heat until tender, about 4 minutes
• add garlic and saute 1 minute longer
  
• reduce heat to low
• add tomato sauce, beef broth, water, canned tomatoes, sugar, all the spices, and cooked beef
• season with salt and pepper t taste
• cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 30 minutes, stir occasionally
• make sure veggies are soft 
• while soup is simmering, prepare the ditalini pasta according to package directions to al dente
• add cooked and drained pasta to soup
• add beans to soup 
• allow to cook 5 more minutes until the beans are heated through
• serve with cheese on top