Hearty Family Minestrone Stew
Hearty recipe my family always asks for. I add homemade cornbread to complete the meal.
Hearty recipe my family always asks for. I add homemade cornbread to complete the meal.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 cans pinto beans
- 1 can green chili
- 4 pounds ground beef browned, crumbled
- 28 ounces tomato puree
- 28 ounces tomato sauce
- 28 ounces kidney beans
- 28 ounces green beans
- 2 cans garbanzo beans
- 1 bag rotini add only after all ingredients are in
- 1 whole onion chopped small
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
- Carbohydrate 32.2918880940356 g
- Cholesterol 119.445990766667 mg
- Fat 13.7972675741029 g
- Fiber 9.01129810830776 g
- Protein 35.6621098679729 g
- Saturated Fat 3.60783893909238 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (454g)
- Sodium 619.521158082777 mg
- Sugar 23.2805899857278 g
- Trans Fat 1.57355601151106 g
- Calories 390 calories
Step-by-step
- Brown Ground Beef.
- In a stock pot saute chopped onion in olive oil until transparent.
- Add browned ground beef and beef broth, reserving 3/4 cup.
- Heat on medium for 15 min.
- Add Tomato puree and tomato sauce, heat additional 10 minutes on medium.
- Add in all beans un-drained and stir.
- Allow to cook until it starts to boil.
- While cooking mix 3/4 cup reserved broth with 2 tablespoons tapica flour in a separate small bowl.
- Mix until flour desolves.
- Add back to stock pot and stir continuously to achieve desired thickness.
- Add in pasta and turn down to low and allow to simmer until pasta is tender.
- Add salt and water to achieve desired flavor and thickness as it thickens as it cooks
Ground beef acts as the structural anchor of this stew, supplying both rendered fat and deep savory proteins that ground the acidic tomato base. Cooking four pounds of meat requires a wide, heavy-bottomed stockpot with at least an eight-quart capacity to ensure adequate heat distribution and prevent the bottom layer from scorching before the liquids are introduced. When sweating the chopped onion in olive oil, maintain medium-low heat for roughly eight to ten minutes until the cells break down completely and translucent edges appear.
Scaling this recipe demands careful attention to liquid ratios because doubling or halving the batch does not change the evaporation rate of the pot. If adjusting the yield downward, reduce the tomato puree and tomato sauce proportionally while keeping a watchful eye on the starches released by the un-drained canned beans, which naturally thicken the broth as they simmer. Whisking the tapioca flour thoroughly into the reserved three-quarters cup of cold beef broth creates a uniform slurry that thickens the pot without forming gummy lumps when heated.
Many cooks ruin heavy bean-and-meat stews by adding pasta too early in the cooking process, which causes the rotini to absorb excessive liquid and disintegrate into mush. Introduce the pasta only during the final simmering phase, turning the heat down to low and stirring frequently to keep the pieces from settling against the base of the vessel. Store leftovers in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to four days, adding a splash of water during reheating to restore the original consistency.
