Olive-Garden-Style Pasta Fagioli Soup

I made so many edits here that I debated just posting our version, but in case you're looking for as close as you can get to the real thing, here's the actual "copycat" recipe in its entirety. The version we made was really tasty, and close enough for us. As you can see, one of the benefits of making it at home is that you don't have to say "when" to the grated cheese until you're really ready--rather than letting the waiter embarrass you into saying "stop" after he's grated a polite amount. Served with a green salad and bread and butter, this was an awesome and filling dinner.

Olive-Garden-Style Pasta Fagioli Soup

1 pound ground beef (we used 1/4 pork sausage)

1 small onion, diced (1 cup) (I omitted this because we didn't have one)
1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes (instead of this and the next two ingredients, I just used about 40 oz of canned whole roma tomatoes in sauce, pureed)
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce (I omitted this)
1 12-ounce can V-8 juice (I omitted this)
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans (with liquid) (I didn't have these so I used twice as many navy beans, below)
1 15-ounce can great northern beans (with liquid)
1 tablespoon white vinegar (I omitted this--it seemed tart enough already)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 pound (1/2 pkg.) ditali pasta (we ended up using whole wheat rings--sort like Spaghetti-O pasta)

1. Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat.
Drain off most of the fat. (I didn't.)
2. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.
4. About 50 minutes into simmer time, cook the pasta in 1 1/2 to 2
quarts of boiling water over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes or just
until pasta is al dente, or slightly tough. Drain.
5. Add the pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5-10 minutes
and serve.
I also threw in about a cup of frozen spinach at the end.
Serves 8.