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Hearty Harvest Soup

This is the way I prefer to make meat-based soup recipes, but you could use cartoned stock or broth instead of making your own. The flavor and texture will be different, but the total process will be faster. These instructions are for a very large pot of finished stock.

What you need

  1. »«Stock»«
  2. Lamb neck bones (to cover bottom of 10qt dutch oven)
  3. Beef short ribs (about 8-10) - You could use beef neck bones, but there will be less meat.
  4. 10 cups very hot tap water just to cover the bones
  5. 1 large carrot, cleaned and cut into 3 pieces
  6. 2 stalks celery, cleaned and cut in half
  7. 1 large unpeeled yellow onion, root and stem removed, cut in quarters
  8. 4 or more cloves garlic, skins on, but broken
  9. 2 california bay leaves or fresh bay laurel leaves
  10. Olive oil
  11. Kosher Salt & Black Pepper
  12. »«Soup»«
  13. Olive Oil
  14. 2 large leeks, cleaned and sliced across into 1 inch pieces
  15. 2 shallots, minced
  16. 2 garlic cloves, minced
  17. 1/2 - 1 lb crimini mushrooms
  18. 1/2 cup dry wine
  19. 1-2 tsp ground allspice (this is wonderful with the meat and the squash/potato combo)
  20. 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed
  21. 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
  22. Plenty of fresh thyme sprigs or minced fresh rosemary leaves
  23. Kosher Salt & Pepper to taste

How to make it

  1. Salt & pepper lamb bones and short ribs
  2. Add about 4 tablespoons olive oil to a preheated 10-12 quart dutch oven
  3. Add lamb bones to pot and brown on high heat on all sides
  4. Remove lamb bones and add short ribs fatty side down
  5. Brown on all sides
  6. Add lamb back to pot with short ribs
  7. Add hot tap water to cover meat (8 to 10 cups)
  8. Add carrot, celery, onion, garlic and Bay leaves
  9. Bring to boil, reduce to low and simmer for 2 1/2 - 3 hours
  10. Remove meat and bones and set aside to cool
  11. Strain broth through a large seive in batches, discard vegetables
  12. Place broth in a large container and place in the freezer for a few hours or in the refrigerator overnight
  13. When meat bones have cooled enough to handle, remove meat and discard bones and any residual fat
  14. Refrigerate meat until ready to finish soup
  15. Remove fat which has risen to the top of the broth container
  16. In dutch oven over medium heat, sauté leek, shallot & mushroom until lightly browned
  17. Add thyme, allspice garlic, butternut squash and sweet potato
  18. Sauté briefly, then deglaze with wine
  19. Add broth and cook until squash and potato are tender
  20. Add meat and heat through

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