Back home in Hungary, there is only one large meal prepared and served per day – lunch – typically what we Americans would consider the 5 p.m. dinner meal. In the village, everybody comes home at around 1 p.m., if possible, for a nice, hot, sit-down meal with the family before jetting off back to school or work. This meal is often multiple courses and a large bowl of hot homemade soup is always the first dish served. Always. I don’t generally care too much for soup (it is so easy to be full after a bowl of soup, especially if it is mostly broth!) but long winter days in the village can be very cold and inspire hunger in the pickiest of eaters!
My husband loves soup, so it has become a new challenge for me to learn to make a variety of hearty soups here at home. He asked for a “vegetable soup like we had at that one place” back in December, and I had no clue what the soup was, what was in it, or how to even attempt to make it! And after a failed straight-to-the-garbage-disposal flop, I resorted to looking at pictures of vegetable soup on the internet. Isn’t that how everybody does it?! 😉 I saw a photo of Hungarian vegetable soup that sort of looked like what we had eaten back home, but the recipe was just not the same. It took some trial and error, but I was able to come up with something that is super close to the original soup he loved back home and now one of our family’s favorites!
A couple of quick notes about the recipe:
I had not ever cooked with bouillon before, but this Better Than Bouillon came highly recommended and it does wonders for a pot of homemade soup! Lots of varieties to choose from too!
And I also am loving cooking with baby-cut carrots – they are already peeled, washed, and ready to go! Saves so much prep time!
- 1½ lbs boneless beef chuck roast, cubed into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs flour
- 2½ quarts (10 cups) cold water
- 2 (8-oz.) cans tomato sauce
- (Veggies peeled and just roughly chopped)
- 3 medium-size potatoes
- 1 lb. bag baby-cut carrots
- 3 celery ribs
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbs fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base (or 2 cubes of chicken bouillon)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- In a large Dutch oven or stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
- In a bowl, sprinkle flour over beef and toss to coat evenly.
- Add beef to hot pot and brown 6 - 8 minutes.
- Add a pinch of salt and pepper to beef.
- Pour in water (be careful to avoid splatters from the hot oil!) and scrape to loosen browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add tomato sauce, veggies, garlic, bouillon, and a few sprinklings of parsley.
- Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally (about an hour or until veggies are tender).
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with remaining parsley and serve with a crusty artisan bread.
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