Beef Minestrone Soup

This hearty winter soup will warm you to your toes.  It is a complete meal, with stew beef and beans for protein, plus veggies and gluten free pasta to round out the bowl.  I love making bean soups on a Sunday afternoon.  Having soaked the beans the night before, there is plenty of time for them to simmer while I prep the rest of the soup ingredients.  Always check labels for gluten containing ingredients.  In this recipe, choose gluten free canned tomatoes and stock.

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INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 cups mixed beans
• 1/2 lb. chuck stew beef cut into 1/2″ cubes
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1-1/2 cups diced onion (3/4 large)
• 1 cup diced carrot (1 large)
• 3/4 cup celery (2 stalks)
• 14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 cup water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. sage
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 4 oz. gluten free pasta
• Italian parsley, for garnish
• grated cheese, for serving

Preparation:

Soak the beans overnight in a stock pot or Dutch oven.  In the morning, drain and rinse the beans.  Wipe the pot clean and add back the beans with 8 cups of cold water.  Simmer for 2 hours on lowest heat.  Drain and rinse the beans again.

Wipe the pot clean, add 1 tbsp. olive oil and brown the beef.  Add the onion, carrot and celery to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 can of stewed tomatoes, 2 ladles of the cooked beans and 1/2 cup water.  Puree with a stick blender.

Add the pureed mixture, 1 cup beef stock and 1 cup water to the stockpot with the rest of the beans.  Stir well and add the bay leaf, sage and thyme.  Simmer 3 more hours on lowest heat.

When the soup is finished, be sure to pull out the bay leaf!

Boil salted water for pasta and cook according to package directions.  Drain and add to the soup.  Serve with grated cheese and garnish with Italian parsley.

Notes:

♪ I normally shy away from packaged mixed beans because so many of them contain barley.  Luckily, I came across this one by Hambeens that is clearly labeled gluten free!

♫ Can you see the lasagna noodles in my bowl?  Gluten free pasta seems especially prone to breakage.  Every box has some broken bits at the bottom.  Don’t throw them away!  They are perfect to use in soup.

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