Mom’s Musings

Minestrone Soup (Serves 30)

First Ingredients:

5 pounds beef stew meat

Olive oil for skillet

¼ cup McCormick Beef Base (this is a condensed, pasty form of bouillon that requires refrigeration)

1 cup water

2 bay leaves (remove when the meat is tender)

10 whole allspice (remove when the meat is tender)

First sauté the beef stew meat in the olive oil until browned. Add the water and beef base. Once this boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 2 ½ hours, until the meat is tender.

Next ingredients:

2 ½ cups chopped onion (or ½ to ¾ cup of dehydrated onion)

5 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)

13 or 14 cups water

More beef base (I think I used ¼ cup)

5 or 6 stalks celery, thinly sliced

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced

1 small head cabbage, shredded

40 ounces of canned beans, such as pinto beans or kidney beans

2 or 3 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (depends on how tomato-y you like the soup)

4 teaspoons Italian seasonings, such as oregano, basil, marjoram (or seasonings of choice)

2 ½ cups fine pasta (optional)

Once the stew meat is tender, cut it into smaller bits, if desired, and store in the refrigerator while you prepare the broth.

Stir the beef base, onions, garlic, celery, diced potatoes and dehydrated vegetables into the water and simmer until vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Add the pasta and stir frequently, until the pasta is done (Follow package directions.).

Add the cooked stew meat, the canned beans, and the Italian seasonings, and heat thoroughly.

Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, and crackers, if desired.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.