Heat the oil in a pan and brown the sausage. Add cooked sausage and all other ingredients except pasta to the slow cooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Approximately 30 minutes before you plan to serve, cook and add the pasta. Cover and cook (still on low) for 20-30 more minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top and crusty bread alongside.

Notes:

This soup is even better if you add a chunk of parmesan rind into the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients at the beginning.

All ingredient amounts can be changed. Use what you have on hand, cut back on one veggie if you don’t like it, etc. If your slow cooker is smaller than mine (I feed armies, gaming groups, and my husband, all of whom eat a lot), cut down the amounts of the veggies, use just one kind of beans, use less broth and a little less pasta. Just make it fit. Soup isn’t an exact science; it’ll taste good no matter what you do.