Vegetable Beef Soup (Fall apart beef!)

• servings: 5 servings
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 2 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 ½ tbsp olive oil (, separated)

500g/1 lb stewing beef (, cut into 1.75cm / 2/3" cubes (Note 1)

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

1 onion (, chopped)

3 garlic (, minced (1 tbsp)

2 celery (, cut into 0.8 cm / 1/3" slices)

3 carrots (, cut into 0.5 cm / 1/5" thick slices (halve larger ones)

4 tbsp flour

2 1/2 cups (625ml) beef broth/stock (, low sodium)

1 1/2 cups (375ml) dry red wine, Guinness beer or stout (Note 2)

1 ½ cups (375ml) water

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 bay leaves

1 tsp thyme dried

1 cup frozen peas

2 potatoes (any), cut into 1.5cm / 2/3" cubes)

1 tbsp (15g) butter or oil

200g/ 6oz small mushrooms (, quartered or halved)

Directions

Heat 1 tbsp oil until very hot in a large, heavy based pot over high heat.

Pat beef dry with paper towels, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Brown beef aggressively in 2 or 3 batches, adding more oil if needed. Remove browned beef into a bowl.

If pot looks dry, add a touch more oil.

Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes.

Add carrot and celery, cook for 2 minutes or until onion is translucent.

Stir in flour, then slowly pour in beef broth while constantly stirring.

Add beer, water, tomato paste, bay leaves and thyme, stir well. Then add the beef back in.

Cover, adjust heat to medium low so it's bubbling gently. Simmer 1 hr 15 min or until beef is pretty tender.

Add potatoes and peas, simmer for a further 20 minutes without the lid. Add cooked mushrooms in the last 5 minutes.

The soup is ready when the potatoes are cooked and beef is very tender (see video).

Adjust salt and pepper to taste (I like lots of pepper in this!).

Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with crusty bread if desired. Try quick Cheesy Garlic Bread or super easy Irish Soda Bread!

Buttery Mushrooms (optional):

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until browned. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Nutrition

• Calories: 419 kcal
• Total Fat: 19 g
• Saturated Fat: 7 g
• Cholesterol: 75 mg
• Sodium: 473 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 32 g
• Dietary Fiber: 6 g
• Total Sugars: 6 g
• Protein: 28 g