Hard Rock Cafe Potato Soup

Soooo...I sort of took the summer off from sharing recipes. This has been pointed out to me by various people...I had no idea anyone at all read this blog, but now that I know I have an audience, I will have to do better! My initial goal was to post a recipe a week. Maybe that is a little unrealistic for my life, but I'm thinking maybe once every other week would be doable. But, I have a little catching up to do now, so you're going to get a two-fer tonight!

This is hands down my most favorite potato soup recipe, ever. My mom dug it up years ago off of one of those copy cat recipe websites. She would make it with bacon cheese bread and bring it to me and my roommates at college. Heaven. It's definitely worth sharing, and I know you will like it if you try it!

Hard Rock Cafe Potato Soup

8 slices bacon, fried crisp
1 c diced yellow onion
2/3 c flour
6 c chicken broth
4 c diced peeled baked potato (HUGE TIME SAVING TIP..I used three cans of diced great value brand potatoes. So much faster than baking, peeling, and dicing potatoes, and you can't tell a difference in taste at all.)
2 c heavy cream (you can use half and half to lighten it up a bit)
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley (I use about 1 T of dried parsley)
1 1/2 T garlic powder
1 1/2 T dried basil
1 1/2 T tabasco
1 1/2 T pepper (If you put the full amount of pepper and tabasco, it will be very spicy. Adjust amounts of pepper and tabasco if you are not a spicy fan or are cooking for kids who aren't spicy fans.)
1 c grated cheddar cheese
1/4 c diced green onion

Cook and chop bacon. Set aside. Cook onion in drippings over medium high heat until transparent. Add flour, stirring to prevent lumps. Cook for 3-5 minutes until mixture just begins to turn golden. Add broth gradually, stirring constantly with whisk until thickened. Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, bacon, parsley, garlic, basil, tabasco, and black pepper. Simmer 10 minutes. DO NOT BOIL. Add cheese and green onions. Stir until cheese melts. YUMMY!

Pasta Fagioli

This is one of my favorite soups in the CrockPot. I know it from the Olive Garden, but got the recipe off of one of my favorite cooking blogs, www.crockpot365.blogspot.com . It makes a ton. Freezes great; great for leftovers so I usually don't ever half the recipe. It also has tons of vegetables in it, so it's mostly good for you!

Pasta Fagioli

1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 cans (14.5oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups beef broth (I do half beef broth/half water to cut down on sodium)
1 jar (16.5 oz) of your favorite pasta sauce
2 tsp oregano (I've used Italian seasoning when out of oregano)
1 T Tabasco, or less if you don't like spicy
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 c dry pasta (I use whatever I have open, and this past time it was small shells, which I really liked)

Use a 6 qt or larger crockpot. Brown meat on stovetop, drain well. Chop up carrots, onion, and celery. Add to empty crockpot. Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tabasco sauce. Stir in meat. Cover and cook on low for 8 hrs or high for 4. When vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 c. dry pasta.

Cover and cook on low for another hour on low or until the pasta is tender. Serve with parmesan and garlic bread! We ate with a ceasar salad too, and it was yummy!