Bean and Pasta soup

When you hear that a soup is rich in flavor, I'm sure you don't think about a bean, veggies and tomato soup. However this soup is rich, rich, rich and so fulfilling! My favorite foody tasting expert gave me the thumbs up for this fabulous recipe I made the other night when the chill in the air forced all the windows closed, and the furnace turned on a bit higher than usual. One of my soup secrets, is butter, yup you heard it a good dab of butter ( not margarine) add it in with the chopped celery, carrots, garlic and onion just as they start to soften cook, butter gives a nice richness to the soup. As soon as the butter has softened down a bit, you want to add the can of rotel. Stir everything together and add in the vegetable stock , green chilis, canned corn, tomato sauce ,canned tomatoes, and water. Add in the cumin, bay leaf, garlic pepper, chili powder and garlic powder. Cover and let this cook on low in the crock pot overnight. In the morning, you better stand back when you take lid off, the aroma that will fill the kitchen will make you run for a snack!  Its such a wonderful smell, that you can hardly wait for dinner to eat this soup! Now its time to add in the cans of beans, and tomato paste. Cover and put on low for at least another hour. 10-15 mins prior to eating, add the orzo pasta to the soup. Once the pasta is soft  and tender, you are ready to dig in. Get a bowl, I like to eat soup out of big bowls, that way I don't have to get up and get seconds, I can slowly eat the soup and savor every bite!