Grandma’s Favorite Soup (meat and vegetable soup)
This is a vegetable soup on which my brother and I grew up. It was loved even by my father who hated vegetables. It is a soup that my own children devoured even when a bite of a vegetable would make them gag. It is a vegetable soup base that is pureed and becomes a thick base for chunks of veal, beef and pastina.
it wasn’t until my first trip to Florence that I realized this was a fairly typical Tuscan preparation and is called Zuppa Passato. I hope you enjoy it as ha e three generations of my family.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb carrots
- 1lb celery
- 1 lb onion
- 20 oz tomatoes, preferably San Mariano tomatoes DOP (that means they are certified San Marzano tomatoes)
- 1/2 lb green beans
- 2 lb beef bones
- 1lb chuck roast
- 1 lb veal breast or shoulder
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon Italian Seasonings
- 1tablespoon salt
Ruth is a longtime family friend and contemporary of my mother. Ruth contends that she can’t cook. In fact, the things I’ve eaten at her house have always been wonderful. Her mushroom/barley soup is rich and hearty, almost like a stew. Ruth will tell you it’s Minna’s recipe (her ancient housekeeper) and perhaps it was at some point but I had Minnas soup and she never used wild mushrooms, which I think are key to the recipe. Ruth uses dried mushrooms but I like to use fresh ones. I make vats of the soup around Thanksgiving when the grocery stores bring in loads of fresh Chanterelle, Royal Trumpet, Enoki and other mushrooms that are hard to find during the year. Once cooked I package it up and put it in my freezer to nourish us during the desolate winter months.
One More Bite 