Crock Pot Pasta Fagioli

I love my Crock Pot. But I rarely find a recipe that I LOVE in the Crock Pot. I'm usually disappointed in the results and use it mainly for the convenience. This Pasta Fagioli recipe,from A Year of CrockPotting, however, is an exception -- I LOVE this recipe! Serve with nice crusty bread and maybe a salad and you have a hearty meal.

Just a few thoughts:
~ The recipe says to use at least a 6 quart crock pot, but mine is a 4 quart and it worked fine.

~ I used chicken stock rather than beef stock and Great Northern beans for the "white beans".

~ You may want to cut back the Tabasco -- we used the full tablespoon and this has a kick!

~ You could definitely make this without meat -- it didn't add much in my opinion. If I add meat next time, it will be in the form of meat balls.

~ You can definitely add more pasta. A half-cup seemed skimpy to me, but I went with it. Next time I'll use at least a cup, if not more. This is also a great recipe to slip in whole wheat pasta because there is so much flavor elsewhere you don't notice the difference in the pasta at all (I snuck it in and no one noticed).