Vegetable and Pasta Soup

I'm pretty sure no one actually needs to learn how to make vegetable soup, but just in case, I decided to blog this tonight. I am still waiting for the weather to get cold and stay cold, but in the mean time, I just had to make soup. Too bad I can't make it in the morning when it's still nice and cool outside. Southern California had better figure out pretty soon that it's Fall or I'm going to be seriously disappointed. Wait...I already am!! So in the afternoons, I still hibernate while patiently waiting for the day time cold weather to finally come and stay. I say cold, but we all know in Southern California, that it's never truly that COLD, it's just less warm haha! (except for the nights...bbbrrrrr)
This soup was so delish!! My hubby probably would have preferred it with some chicken  or some kind of protein in it, but I was just hungry for vegetable soup tonight. I can't wait for leftovers tomorrow. Yummy!!
* I took a picture of my hubby's serving and forgot to take a picture of mine, which had fresh shaved parmesan and fresh basil on the top as garnishes. 

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 can green beans (I didn't have any fresh, but you can use fresh also)

3/4 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes ( you can use less if you don't want your soup spicy at all)

Salt/Pepper to taste

1 Tbsp thyme

1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes

6 cups water

2 cups rainbow rotini (or your favorite pasta)

In a  large soup pot, melt the butter and toss in the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, green beans, italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook until the vegetables are semi soft. Add the can of tomatoes (including the juice) and the water. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add your pasta and cook for about 10 minutes. *You can also serve this with freshly grated parmesan cheese on top, and/ or fresh basil.