Recipe: Pasta Fagiola-Type Soup

I originally found this recipe on Pinterest (you're surprised, right?) and just altered it a bit.  Here is the link to the original recipe: http://theitaliandishblog.com/imported-20090913150324/2010/1/2/sausage-and-bean-soup-with-pasta.html

Pasta Fagiola-Type Soup

• 1 cup dried cannellini or cellini beans or 1 15-ounce can of any beans you like, drained (I used Cannellini)
• 1 pound ground sausage, turkey or pork (I used turkey)
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 medium carrot, diced (I omitted this because sometimes carrots IN things offend me)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (I used the kind that comes pre-minced in a jar)
• 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes 
• 6 to 8 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf (I didn't have an actual leaf, so I used crushed bay leaves)
• salt and pepper 
• 1 cup ditalini pasta, or any small pasta
• grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 

Instructions:

In a large pot, brown the turkey.  Remove from pot.  If there is a lot of fat left in the pot, pour this out but do not wipe out pot.  Add onion, carrot and olive oil and saute for 5 minutes until soft.  Add garlic and saute about a minute more.  Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, some salt and pepper, the drained beans  and the turkey and cover the pot. Cook for an hour over low heat, at a gentle simmer.

Add the pasta and cook, uncovered, until the pasta is tender.  Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper to taste.  If the soup is too thick for your liking, you can add more chicken broth.

Serve with grated cheese on top and an extra drizzle of olive oil.

*I tasted my soup when adding the pasta, and thought it was a bit bland, so I threw in some oregano (maybe 2 tsp or so), which seemed to do the trick.