Vegetable Soup in Meat Broth

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make a tasty vegetable soup in meat broth? It's very simple and easy. First, gather the ingredients on the list. I had a ready-made pork-rib broth that I'd cooked ahead of time. You can swap out or add vegetables to your taste — for example, add green peas, zucchini, or eggplant, or replace the broccoli with cauliflower or white cabbage.

2. Step 2:

   

   Here's how to make the broth: pour 2.6 liters of water into a pot and add any bone-in meat (ribs, shank, etc.) — pork, beef, or lamb, your choice. Add one whole onion, a couple of bay leaves, 5 allspice berries, and a level tablespoon of salt. Cook for about 40 minutes. Strain the finished broth after first removing the cooked-down vegetables. If there's meat on the bones, cut it off, chop it, and return it to the pot along with the vegetables.

3. Step 3:

   

   Wash and dry all the vegetables. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes.

4. Step 4:

   

   Break the broccoli into small florets. You can use fresh or frozen.

5. Step 5:

   

   Seed and core the bell pepper and cut it into cubes. Mine is an ordinary seasonal pepper, but you can use a bell pepper of any color.

6. Step 6:

   

   Cut the carrot into small cubes.

7. Step 7:

   

   If your green bean pods are long, like mine, cut them into smaller pieces. If the beans are already cut, there's no need to chop them further.

8. Step 8:

   

   Peel the onion and cut it into small cubes. If you don't like noticing onion in the finished soup, you can leave it out altogether, since a whole onion has already cooked down in the broth and given up its juices. If your broth has no onion, you can add a whole onion along with the potatoes and remove it at the very end of cooking.

9. Step 9:

   

   Finely chop the garlic.

10. Step 10:

    

    Finely chop the fresh herbs as well.

11. Step 11:

    

    Bring the broth to a boil, add the diced potatoes, bring back to a boil, and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes.

12. Step 12:

    

    While the potatoes cook, make the sauté. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet, add the onion, and fry over medium heat, stirring, until translucent.

13. Step 13:

    

    Add the carrot, broccoli, bell pepper, and green beans to the skillet. Fry everything together, stirring, for 7–10 minutes.

14. Step 14:

    

    Transfer the contents of the skillet to the pot. Bring the soup to a boil and cook for another 5 minutes.

15. Step 15:

    

    Add the tomatoes at the end. Choose firm, dense ones that won't fall apart while cooking. I used whole cherry tomatoes. Add the garlic and chopped herbs to the soup. Add more salt if needed. Bring the broth to a boil and cook for 1–2 minutes.

16. Step 16:

    

    Take the finished soup off the heat and let it rest, covered, for about 10 minutes. Then ladle it into bowls. Enjoy!