Beef and Lentil Soup

Winter is here. It may be barely halfway through November, but already the mall is playing Christmas music, we've had our first snowflake, and the scarves have been broken out.

Aww, who am I kidding, I love it! Well, at least until January 2nd, and then I just want to get all the coldness over with. But until then, I'm a giant Christmas nerd (you don't want to be around me between Thanksgiving and New Year's, as there is always some device playing constant holiday music, on top of a TV playing "Elf" or "Love Actually"), and scarves are totally in right now.

Another one of my favorite things about winter is Giada De Laurentiis's Lentil Soup with Beef. Nothing warms me up like a big bowl of this hearty soup, nothing short of a glass of Jameson, anyway. At least twice a winter I make a huge batch of this, freeze it, and bring it to work for lunch (and usually dinner, too... my job sucks). I've held off as long as I could, and now it's finally winter enough to break out this old favorite!

Source
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Yield
8 servings

Equipment

• Large, heavy saute pan
• Large pot

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 1/2 lbs. Boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
• To taste, salt and pepper
• 3 large Celery stalks, chopped
• 2 large Carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large Onion, chopped
• 6 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp. Oregano, dried
• 6 14-oz. cans Beef broth (I prefer low-sodium broth, since it allows you to add as much or little salt as you want)
• 28-oz. can Diced tomatoes in juice
• 11 oz. Lentils, rinsed

Directions

• In the large, heavy saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat

• Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper

• Add half of the beef to the pan and cook until brown. Normally when I make this I think, oh, my pan is big enough. I'll just throw all the beef in at once. Bad idea. The beef needs room to brown in the oil, and if it doesn't have enough room, it will steam, which is not the flavor you're going for. Really, only do half at a time.

• Remove with a slotted spoon into a bowl, set aside, and repeat with the remaining beef, adding the rest of the beef to the bowl.

• In the same pan, with all the beef juices still in it, add the carrots, celery, onions, garlic and oregano.

• Saute and until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes.
• Transfer the vegetables and all the juices to a large pot, and add the beef from the bowl.
• Add the broth and tomatoes with their juices

• Bring to a boil. This actually took a very long time, because there was so much in the pot.

• Reduce heat to medium-low
• Cover and simmer until the beef is tender, about 1 hour

• Add the lentils

• Cover and continue simmering until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve

This re-heats really well, and can be frozen for up to 6 months.