Vegetable, Beef and Bread Stew

So, I’m playing around with lots of fresh veggies and thinking of my mom’s meatballs that she made with bread soaked in milk. Here’s what happened.

Ingredients:

Beef and Bread Mixture:

½ cup onion, diced

2 teaspoon olive oil

4 oz. ground beef

4 cups stale bread, cubed

1 cup room temperature milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon Worcestershire

Stew:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 medium carrot, diced

¾ cup onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 large zucchini, diced

1 large yellow squash, diced

1 32-oz container vegetable stock

1 15-oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

4 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon seasoning blend (I like Fox Point from Penzeys, but use whatever you like)

1 teaspoon Worcestershire

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon vegetable base (optional)

1 teaspoon no-beef base (optional)

3 cups water

Directions:

For the beef and bread mixture, brown the onion and ground beef in the olive oil. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a separate bowl and add the beef mixture when cool. Mix thoroughly and chill until the stew is almost done.

For the stew, sauté the onion, celery and carrots in a large pot. When they are soft, add the squashes and cook until tender. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour.

Remove beef and bread mixture from the fridge and, using wet hands, shape into fist sized balls, squeezing out any extra liquid. Bring the stew up to a low boil. Drop the beef and bread mix on top of the stew mixture and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Cover and cook another 20 minutes. Some of the bread mix will be like dumplings, some will dissolve right into the stew.  Scoop into a bowl enjoy.

Note: This seems like a lot of veggie chopping, so if you aren’t into that, pulse them individually in your food processor.

Get creative on me: Replace the beef with mushrooms or bacon or just use the onions. Use any veggies you have, even frozen or canned. Replace veggie stock with beef or chicken stock. This may be bland for some, so feel free to add cayenne or hot sauce to kick it up. Garlic lover? Add it!