Slow Cooker Hamburger Soup #Blogtober

Ground beef, vegetables and pasta make up this hearty Italian inspired soup.

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Brrrr! The temperature has been dropping fast. I am still trying not to turn on the heat, so there's plenty of snuggling with blankets going on, LOL. When the weather starts to change like this, I crave soup. Soup warms you up from the inside out, which in turn makes the cold weather outside seem a little less severe.

I made this soup for dinner last week, on one of these cold days. I needed something hearty enough for my SO, and two hungry teenagers. So I went with an Italian soup, bursting with hearty ground beef and pasta. I served it with grilled cheese, which has perfect to dunk. It was fantastic! So much so, that there wasn't a drop of soup left, by the time dinner was done. The kids ate with gusto and everyone was warm, all the way down to our toes.

Slow Cooker Hamburger Soup

1 lb lean ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
1 C celery, chopped
1- 8 oz pkg cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
1- 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
3 Tbs tomato paste
5 C beef broth
1 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1- 2 inch piece of Parmesan rind (or 1/4 C parmesan cheese)
2/3 box of Farfalle pasta (from a 1 lb box)

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat. Add in the onions and garlic and cook until onions are translucent (about 3 minutes).

Pour browned beef mixture into a 6 qt crock pot. Add in the carrots, celery, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth, oregano, bay leaves, salt and pepper and parmesan rind. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hrs.

30 minutes before serving, turn crock pot to HIGH, remove the bay leaves and parmesan rind. Add in the pasta, cover and cook until pasta is al dente. Serve with additional Parmesan if desired.