Equipment Needed
- Large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Sharp knife and cutting board
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Ladle
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by heating the olive oil in your large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, breaking it up with your wooden spoon as it cooks. You want to get a nice, brown sear on the meat, not just gray it. That browning, called the Maillard reaction, is where a ton of the soup’s foundational flavor comes from. Once the beef is no longer pink, I use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a clean plate, leaving the flavorful drippings behind. This prevents the beef from steaming and keeps its texture perfect.
In those same delicious beef drippings, add your diced onion, carrot, and celery—the classic “soffritto” base. Sauté them for about 6-8 minutes, until the onions turn translucent and the carrots just begin to soften. You’ll hear a wonderful sizzle. Now, add the minced garlic and stir for just 30 seconds until it becomes incredibly fragrant. Be careful not to let it burn! This is the moment your kitchen will start to smell like a professional soup kitchen. Toasting the garlic with the veggies wakes up its flavor in the best way.
Now, return the browned beef to the pot. Pour in the beef broth, the diced tomatoes with their juices, and the tomato sauce. Stir in the dried oregano, basil, thyme, and drop in the bay leaf. Give everything a good stir, scraping up any tasty browned bits from the bottom of the pot—that’s pure flavor gold. Bring the soup to a lively boil, then immediately reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Let it bubble away, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. This simmering time allows the vegetables to become tender and all the flavors to start marrying beautifully.(See the next page below to continue…)