Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 large sprig thyme
- 2 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, chopped
- 1 stick celery, chopped
- 1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
- 1 sweet red pepper (roasted or fresh), chopped
- 1-1/2 lb boneless stewing beef, cubed into bite sized pieces
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 4 large juicy plum tomatoes, fresh or canned, chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 tsp each: smoked paprika, sweet paprika, oregano, toasted ground caraway or cumin seeds, sugar
- 2 tbsp each: chopped fresh parsley, red wine vinegar
Preparation
Step 1
Warm oil in deep saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, thyme, bacon, carrot, celery, potato and sweet pepper. Saute for 10 min until bacon has rendered its fat and vegetables are softened.
Add beef cubes and brown for 5 min. Add flour, stirring to incorporate, about 30 sec.
Add red wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the brown bits sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add broth, tomatoes, salt and pepper as well as all the spices and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover and cook on low heat for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
The vegetables should be practically disintegrating into the soup and the meat should be fork tender at this point. If soup is too thin, uncover, increase heat to medium and boil off some of the extra broth. Remove thyme sprig.
Mix in the vinegar and fresh parsley and serve.
Serves four