Friday, September 18, 2009

Beef Vegetable Soup and Pasta (It’s gluten free, too!)

Mmm ... soup. Now that the crisp morning air is kissing our noses, it’s time to transition to “warm me up” foods. In the Gouda household, that means soup time! Mmm, mmm, mmm. Soupy, soupy, soupy! I love the stuff and at the risk of sounding morbid, am pretty confident that Soup Maker could serve as my epitaph. I make a lot of soup. A lotta soup a lot.

For those of us navigating our way through the new world of eating gluten free, we find ourselves revamping tried and true recipes. Now you gluten eaters stay with me, cuz this is really good. Take today’s recipe, for example. Beef vegetable soup over pasta. In our gluten eating days, I would have floured the beef, browned it, etc. as part of the recipe.Now a days, I skip the flouring part and stick with direct, clean flavors. I’m really, really pleased with the end result. Even more so, so is my souper girl who can’t eat wheat. When I made this yesterday, I was after a beefy flavored soup that would be complimented with yet not usurped by vegetables. You’ll not see either peas or green beans in this version. While I LOVE those Kermit colored veggies in my soup, their flavors are more prominent than what I shooting for. I also used V8 juice instead of tomatoes because my littlest doesn’t really enjoy bits of tomato in her soup. Silly girl. I ended up topping my portion with a lovely roasted tomato relish I made a couple days ago. No photo, though, sorry. Next, my older kids were clamoring for pasta, specifically the rice pasta that we enjoy around here. So, I decided to combine the two. Voila ... successful flavor marriage.Let’s make some soup, shall we!

2 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 lbs of beef, cubed (I made mine smallish, around ½ to ¾”)
1 onion, diced medium
4 long carrots, sliced ¼ in rounds
1 clove garlic minced
1 celery stalk, sliced thin
1 cans beef broth (I used Swanson’s)
2 cans chicken broth (I used Swanson’s)
2/3 cup V8 juice
1 additional can of beef broth
3 cups of diced potatoes (from my garden garbage-can-potatoes!)
1/2 cup corn
Seasoned salt
Pepper
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon parsley
Cooked shaped pasta, buttered and splashed with a little olive oil – I used gluten free rice pasta - fusilli shapeHeat a large stock pot over medium high heat, and add the oil. Immediately add the beef cubes taking care not to crowd them. Season the beef with seasoned salt and pepper, and saute the beef for a few minutes making sure to brown on all sides. Add the onion, stir to scrape up any fond on the bottom, and sauté for about a minute. Add the carrot and sauté for another minute or two. Stir in the garlic, then the celery. You should be able to smell the garlic right away. Add the 1 can of beef broth, 2 cans of chicken broth, and V8 juice. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours. After 2 hours, add another can of broth and bring back to a boil. Add the potatoes, corn, and seasonings, and cook for another ½ hour.
Place cooked pasta in a large soup bowl. Spoon soup on top. Make yummy noises.

What foods are you making now that Fall is in the air?

17 comments:

Jennifer said...

Gorgeous soup, I dont flour my meat either, I agree the taste is better somehow! I am waiting till hubby gets home to cook anything!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

This would be a lovely way to end my day.

Linda said...

Looks good. I'm thinking in terms of soups and stews now that the weather is cooler. Roasts instead of steak and much more baking.

Cathy said...

I'm in the mood for soup even though we've had warm days. I love to smell it simmering on the stove.

It must be time to harvest the garbage can potatoes. Do you do it all at once?

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

I love thick soups that are almost like stew. This is a great fall meal.

Marjie said...

Soup is on the schedule for the weekend. More roasting (as if that were even possible). You know I don't flour the meat in my soup; shredded potatoes will melt away and thicken the broth, as will cornstarch. This is a really pretty soup!

Marjie said...

I meant to ask, did you get much use out of the soup cookbook I found you? It looked like it had your name written all over it!

Anonymous said...

Ohhhh, another food blog, I am too hungry to be tortured with all this loveliness!

Maria Verivaki said...

i'm also enjying cooking warmer meals these days - it is still not very cold, but the sun sets earlier every day, and the mornings are very cool

grace said...

hunks o' beef and spuds and all kinds of aromatics = fall in a bowl. lovely, paula!

Robynn's Ravings said...

Boy that looks beautiful. Well done!

Fall hasn't even LEANED yet here. Well, it did a day or two of false advertising but we're up against a week of 100 degree weather. However, that hasn't prevented me from making two soups. Chicken with leeks, carrots, and spinach (recipe will be up in a few weeks on 30 Day Throw Down) and also THREW together a minestrone, literally, during the flu this week. But we ate off of it for three days. It was amazing.

I used to like thick stews. Now I truly enjoy a lovely thin broth base and let the stars show themselves off!

pam said...

I made a beef vegetable soup this week too! I am soooo ready for fall.

Pam said...

Hearty, comforting and delicious. This is my kind of soup.

The Blonde Duck said...

I've never seen much benefit to flouring meat, unless you're frying it.

I'm so glad she liked it! :) You made my night!

A Joyful Chaos said...

This looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing!

DayPhoto said...

It is cool enough here I will now start thinking of soup. Thank for another really good recipe!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Deborah said...

I LOVE a good beef soup, and this one looks amazing!