Beef, Tomato and Acini di Pepe Soup

A few years ago, my oldest sister, Caterina, sent me a recipe for Beef, Tomato and Acini di Pepe Soup. She told me it was one of her family's favorites. I never got around to making it until yesterday, and realized I have really been missing out! Most of the soup recipes I make use either chicken or sausage. This is the first one I've made with ground beef. My sister makes it in a slow cooker, but I made it on the stove. I am only including the stove top directions below, but the link above also has slow cooker and instant pot directions. I used petite diced tomatoes and added a teaspoon of coarse black pepper to the soup, but otherwise I followed the directions. This soup was very easy to make, and tasted delicious! Just remember to plan ahead a little bit since it needs to simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours before adding the pasta.

I was able to fit one recipe in a 4-quart pot. If you have a larger family, you will probably need more than one recipe. My husband and I were the only ones that ate it, and I had two bowls leftover. I will definitely be making this recipe again soon!

Beef, Tomato and Acini di Pepe Soup

Recipe Courtesy Skinnytaste.com

1 pound 90% lean ground beef

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

½ cup diced onion

½ cup diced celery

½ cup diced carrot

28-ounce can petite diced tomatoes

32 ounces beef stock

2 bay leaves

4 ounces (2/3 cup) small pasta, such as Acini di Pepe

Grated parmesan cheese, optional

In a large pot or Dutch oven, sauté the beef, salt, and pepper on high heat until browned, breaking the meat up into small bits. Add the onion, celery and carrots and sauté 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock and bay leaves; cover and cook on low until the beef and the vegetables are tender, about 1 to 1½ hours (you may need to add more broth or water if it evaporates too much). Add the pasta, stir and cook according to package directions.

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup is one of my favorite soups for this time of year. I have never actually made it, but my mom and sisters make this recipe of Giada's and it's delicious, so I wanted to share it.

A lot of my family members cannot have dairy (which is one reason they make this recipe over others - it does not have any heavy cream in it!), so instead of using butter they only use olive oil. They do not put sage in their soup, so I put that as optional. They also do not make the crostini that is included in Giada's recipe so I left that out. My mom added a few more carrots the last time she made this and I think it tasted the best out of all the batches of hers that I've had!

This soup is delicious by itself, but I also love to dip grilled cheese in it if I'm having it for lunch. Yum!

Butternut Squash Soup

Recipe Courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

2 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped into ½-inch pieces

3 cloves garlic, minced

3½ pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¾-inch pieces (about 7 to 8 cups)

6 cups low-sodium chicken stock

¼ cup chopped fresh sage leaves (optional)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In an 8-quart stockpot, add the butter and oil and melt together over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the squash and the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the sage. Continue to boil until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until smooth and thick. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Keep the soup warm over low heat. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls.

Note: The cooked vegetable mixture can also be pureed (after cooling for about 5 minutes) by ladling, in batches, into a food processor or blender and blended until smooth.