Seasonal Plate

Three Little Ghostesses

Three little ghostesses 

Sitting on postesses, 

Eating buttered toastesses, 

Greasing their fistesse, 

Up to their wristesses, 

Oh, what beastesses 

To make such feastesse!

Plan a feastesse for Hallows Eve with Slow Cooker Olive Garden Copycat recipe Pasta E Fagioli Soup. It’s rich and hearty loaded with veggies and a good amount of protein with beans and beef, the perfect comfort soup for fall. Pair the soup with some holiday treats Cheese and Blackberry Kabobs and M & M Blondies. 

Slow Cooker Pasta E Fagioli Soup
Cook’s Notes: Pasta e fagioli means "pasta and beans” and is a traditional Italian dish. Like many other Italian favorites, including pizza and polenta, the dish started as a peasant dish, being composed of inexpensive ingredients. Add dried pasta in last 30 minutes of cooking time to avoid becoming mushy.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef or Italian Sweet Sausage
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup each diced sweet onions, carrots and celery
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1 can diced tomatoes (basil, garlic)
• 2-3 cups chicken broth
• ½ cup water
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Great Northern White Beans 
• 1 jar (24.5 oz.) Marinara Sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. each Italian seasoning, chili powder, parsley flakes
• ½ tsp. sugar
• Optional ¼ tsp. espresso powder
• 1 cup uncooked dried pasta e.g. ditalini, small shells, elbow macaroni

Directions:

• Brown meat with onions and garlic in a fry pan. Crumble meat, drain and pat dry of grease.
• Add meat mixture to slow cooker with rest of listed ingredients except pasta. Mix well. 
• Cook soup on high 3 hours or low 5 hours. Stir occasionally. Add in pasta last 30 minutes of cooking time. 
• Remove bay leaf. May need to add more broth as pasta does absorb a lot of liquid. 

M & M Blondies
Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup butter
• 1- 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup combination orange, yellow and brown M & M’s, divided
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a glass 9 x 9 pan with cooking spray. 
• Place butter and brown sugar in a medium sized saucepan and heat. 
• Whisk constantly until sugar and butter are mixed and smooth. Cool for 5 minutes. 
• Pour mixture into mixing bowl, adding in eggs one at a time. Stir until incorporated adding in vanilla. 
• Add in flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, beat until combined. 
• Stir in chocolate chips and half of the M & M’s to batter, Mix well. 
• Pour batter into prepared pan. 
• Sprinkle rest of M & M’s evenly on top of batter, do not press in. 
• Bake for 22 minutes.

Halloween Kabobs
Ingredients:

• Blackberries or Black Olives
• Cubed Cheddar Cheese or Cantaloupe

Directions:
Alternate on a skewer; blackberry and cubed cheese