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Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew Hearty Comfort Food

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Beef stew, there must be thousands of recipes for this hearty dish and Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew is just one of them. Every family in every country seems to have a version of beef stew. Our Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew contains lean meat, nourishing vegetables, creamy Pinto beans, and ditalini pasta all in a rich tomato broth. Think of a big pot of hot aromatic thick vegetable beef soup on the stove, waiting to welcome you and your family in from the cold. Our stew features cabbage instead of potatoes but you may add potatoes to your beef stew if you like, use venison meat, or make it vegetarian. We know you’ll love this stew. 

For this recipe, you’ll need: beef, cabbage, onion, celery, carrots, green beans, garlic, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, pinto beans, beef broth, bay leaves, parsley flakes, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, pepper, small pasta. 

Two bowls of Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew with a loaf of bread on a wooden cutting board and a knife on the side.

History of Beef Stew

To call a dish beef stew, it has to cook in a pot with a liquid base, and it must have beef as the main ingredient. Stewing meat, as a method of cooking, goes as far back as the discovery of fire.

I can picture how stewing meat evolved. A caveman enters the family cave dragging something behind him. “Wife,” he bellows. “I’ve got meat. I’m hungry.”

Cartoon of a Caveman bringing home meat for beef stew @allourway.com

The wife turns from the steaming cauldron that’s over the fire and looks at what her husband dragged in. “Huh!” she says. ” That meat is the same as you brought me last time. The last time I cooked it over the fire it was as tough as your shoes. We couldn’t swallow it.”

Caveman responds, “I’m tired of berries and nuts. I need meat!”

“Then bring me some meat I can cook over the fire.”

First Beef Stew

As the caveman leaves the cave, he’s mumbling about ungrateful wives.

The woman, in the meantime, looks at the bloody mass on the ground. She’s grumbling about leathery meat.  With a sigh of resignation, she grabs the container of water then rinses off the dirt and grass from the hunk of flesh. What should she do?

Cartoon of Cave Woman Dreaming of Cooking Beef Stew

She looks at her water-filled cauldron; she looks at the meat at her feet. Why not she thinks to herself? A hot soak in water couldn’t hurt the tough meat. She smiles to herself as she puts a big chunk of meat into the simmering water.

Beef Stew today

Today this delicious comfort food comes in many forms. It can be . . .

  • Texas-style chili
  • Burgoo a Kentucky stew.
  • French Boef Bourguignonne.
  • Beef Stroganoff.
  • Hungarian Goulash.
  • Flemish Carbonnade à la Flamande
  • Italian Spezzatino di Manzo, and more.

Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew cooking in Dutch oven @allourway.com

Beef Stew in a slow cooker or Dutch Oven

Now that most homes have a slow cooker or crock-pot, it’s even easier to whip up a delicious beef stew any day of the week. We don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen tending the stew on the stove, the slow cooker does the work.

The only thing that we would do if using a slow cooker instead of a Dutch oven, is lightly sauté the meat first. Then we would sauté the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and green beans and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Two Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew Ready in white bowls with a spoon in one bowl. A baguette is on a wood board with a knife. @allourway.com

We made our Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew in our Dutch oven. Smelling a wonderful stew simmering on the stove is so homey and enticing,  no scented candle can ever match that smell.

This stew is versatile. You can use chicken or even make it vegan by eliminating the meat and adding more beans for the protein. If you like, add more broth and make it into Vegetable Beef Soup.

Beef Stew Seasoning

  • Italian seasoning — oregano, basil, parsley leaves. bay leaves.
  • spice — black pepper, red pepper flakes.
  • soffritto — onion, celery, carrots.
  • and garlic.

These seasonings aren’t etched in stone. They are just some of our favorites.

Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew with Parmesan on top. @allourway.com

However you make it, we know you’ll be happy with the taste. We’re already planning our next vegetable beef stew, although this time, we may make it a venison stew.

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Tutti a tavola è pronto!

Un caro saluto e alla prossima.

Here’s a video of another soup you may like.


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Two bowls filled with vegetable beef stew with spoon sticking out of stew. Baguette on a cutting board with knife.

Rustic Italian Vegetable Stew Hearty Comfort Food

This hearty and tasty stew is very versatile and satisfying. You can make it thick as a stew or thin as a soup. It’s all up to you. Whichever way you make it, you will be happy with the taste and seasoning. Guaranteed!!

Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew comfort food any time of year @allourway.com

Rustic Italian Vegetable Beef Stew

A hearty spicy vegetable beef stew that's loaded with iron-rich beef, nutritious vegetables, high fiber pinto beans, comforting pasta, all in a rich tomato broth. Excellent any time of year but especially so in the cold winter months.
5 from 24 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: beef, comfort food, main dish, Soup, Stew
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: comfort food, hearty, winter soup
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 291kcal
Author: Marisa Franca @ All Our Way

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds chuck roast cubed
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil divided
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 cup sliced celery
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 2 cups shredded savoy cabbage
  • 1 cup fresh green beans cut in 1-inch pieces may use frozen
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 can 16 ounces diced tomatoes
  • 1 can 15 ounces tomato sauce
  • 1 can 15 ounces pinto beans(drained)
  • 1 can 14 ounces beef broth (or more if you prefer a thinner stew)
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes -use less if you don't like spicy
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3/4 cup dried ditalini may substitute any small pasta cooked to under al dente. It will finish cooking in stew.
  • Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • Place a Dutch oven or large pot on medium high heat sauté beef in 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lightly salt and pepper the meat as it sautés. Remove meat with juices and set aside.
  • In the same pot add the rest of the olive oil and sauté the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, green beans, seasonings over medium-high heat until the carrots and green beans are semi-soft.
  • Add beef broth, beef cubes and juice,diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and bring to a boil then turn down to simmer. Cover with lid and continue to simmer until meat is tender about 1 hour.
  • Stir in the drained beans and the savoy cabbage. Place the lid back on the pot and continue to cook for another 15 minutes.
  • Check the meat for doneness. The beef should be tender.
  • Stir in the cooked ditalini, cover the pot with lid, turn off the heat and let it rest.
  • If you prefer a thinner stew, add more beef broth.
  • Serve with shaved Parmesan cheese.

Notes

This is a very versatile stew. Add your favorite vegetables. This recipe can be a starting point. Add more liquid if you like it thinner. We thought it was excellent as is. Your cut of meat will determine the cooking time. Taste as you go along.

Nutrition

Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 101mg | Potassium: 511mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 61% | Vitamin C: 12.8% | Calcium: 5.1% | Iron: 13.5%

Note: Recipes and content from © 2016 All Our Way are copyright protected. Please do not use content or recipe without prior written permission. If you want to share the information, please link to this post. Grazie.

Comments


  2. Like you and hubby, we look forward to hot soups and stews starting in the fall season. It’s been our family tradional to have soup on Christmas and New Years Eve….night before the big Holiday meal the next day. Thanks MARISA for another tasty recipe😊

    Reply


  6. Such a cute story, Marisa! This stew though looks amazing!!!! I wish I could have a bowl of this right now for dinner. This is food for the soul <3

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  7. Yum! A good beef stew with plenty of veggies is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. I think this is one of those dishes that is always even better the following day. Perfect cold weather food and a great way to feed the whole house!

    Reply


  8. This is so cute that you wrote about stew’s history. 🙂 It is so interesting to know more about culinary history! And your beef stew look so inviting! I need to buy the ingredients!

    Reply


  11. Now that looks like comfort food in a bowl. Love stews this time of the year and this sounds perfect with all that goodness. My kids would feast over this one Marisa. So hearty and wholesome.

    Reply


  14. Hi MARISA, Like you, we love stews and soups…..especially, going into the cooler months. This stew recipe is on my menu list. Our thoughts and prayers are with you finding the perfect house SOON. We can totally relate to your house hunting experience. Hang in there…..prayer is powerful!! Xoxxo

    Reply


  16. I love stew! It was a staple back when I got my first apartment many, many years ago. I don’t put in as many ingredients as you do so I can’t wait to try your version. It looks so hearty and delicious! Great post!

    Reply


  17. We love a good beef stew. Especially my dad. He can eat beef stew all day everyday (though I’m sure he shouldn’t lol!). This looks so delicious.

    Reply


  19. When it comes to comfort food season….I look for food in bowls. Love wrapping my hands around a warm bowl of goodness. I love stew, and this looks delicious. When I make stew at home, I make a HUGE batch. I love the leftovers, and my kids and grandkids always want to take some home.

    Reply


  21. We love a hearty stew in our family, thank you for the new recipe! I’ll be adding it to our meal plan next week.

    Reply


  22. This is my kind of dinner recipe! So yummy and perfect for my entire family. They would love this beef stew!

    Reply


  23. Well the calendar says SPRING…but the weather outside is an ICE STORM (for 2 days now). This is the perfect comfort food…and it will go with the wine to drown our weather headache. You can NEVER go wrong with a delicious bowl of stew and fresh baked bread for dinner any night of the week.

    Reply

    • Ciao, Gloria! We do the same. It’s just as easy to make a huge batch then a small one. It’s so nice to have something good in the freezer. And our kids the benefit too. Perhaps that’s why the grandsons are always so excited for us to visit. 😉

      Reply

  26. Hehe! I love your caveman story and illustrations! Made me laugh! I love a good beef stew and you are right, there are tons of them out there. I really tend to like beef stews like yours….. chunky, hearty, and rustic. This one looks absolutely delicious!

    Reply

  27. Oh my goodness this sounds AMAZING! The perfect comfort food. I’ve just come back from a hill walk where I got hailed on in gale force winds, and I could seriously use a bowlful of this as I defrost!

    Reply

    • Hello, Elizabeth! Wish I could pop some in the mail and send it to you. We are ready to make our second batch – it’s cold here too. Hope you’ve defrosted – have a Merry Christmas.

      Reply


  30. Oh Marisa that’s a fantastic story hahaha. I love making up origin stories for dishes too, it’s always fun to wonder things like ‘How did people decide that eating eggs, or drinking milk was a good idea??’ Love your beef stew, it looks absolutely gorgeous, and any stew with pasta always has my vote!

    Reply

  34. that post is fun. =D
    I always enjoy a hot bowl of beef stew. Sometimes it’s hard to get beef around here. We use beef shank for goulash and ragout in general because it’s best suited for longer cooking periods and it doesn’t get chewy and yet gives flavor.

    Reply

  36. This will be delicious… Its uncommonly cold for the west coast and my tummy is warmer from just reading your description and recipe…

    Oh… For whatever reason I have never seen ditalini on my grocers shelves.. I’ve always found plain old salad mac, usually on the bottom shelf, which I use frequently in the summer to make mac salad… Now I can put an Italian name to it… :O)

    Reply

    • Hi, Ross! I think it’s cold everywhere! Make some beef stew and warm up from the inside out 🙂 Sometimes you have to really search to find different pasta. I’m a sucker for something new and unusual. Hope you’re having a wonderful Christmas season.

      Reply

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