Here's what you need, other than the seasonings, which I left out of this photo because I'm an airhead.
But you're probably used to that.
Peel the carrots.
(I like to do it on a paper towel so I can just fold it up and toss it!)
Now, dice up an onion. I keep the dice pretty small, so the soup won't have big chunks.
Then dice up a couple of stalks of celery to about the same size…
And mince up 3 cloves of garlic.
I decided to use three colors of bell peppers, because my grocery store does this neat thing where they package up all three colors of bell pepper together, and I can't resist them because they look so pretty together.
I'm very visually driven. I'm not sure if I've ever conveyed this to you before, what with my four thousand photos per recipe post and everything.
Seed the peppers, then dice them up.
Slice the carrots on a diagonal…
Then cut the red potatoes into large chunks.
And now it's time to make the soup! Throw the hamburger, onion, celery, and garlic in a large pot….
Then brown it over medium-high heat until the meat is totally cooked!
Now, this step is important: Remove the pot from the heat and drain off as much fat as humanly possible. The more fat you drain off, the less fat you'll see later on the surface of the soup, the more palatable the soup will be, and the more your cardiologist will thank me.
So everyone wins!
Yuck! Let it cool, then toss it.
Crack open a can of whole tomatoes. (This is a large can, but I only used half of it.)
Pour in the tomatoes along with the juice…
Then reach in, grab the tomatoes one by one, and squish them with your hands.
I like to do this rather than use canned diced tomatoes, because you’ll have more randomly shaped tomatoes in the soup rather than uniform dices.
And I’d rather be random than dicey.
Throw in the bell peppers…
The carrots…
And the potatoes!
Next, for the liquid, add 4 cups of beef stock or beef broth. You can also add a cup or two of water if you want your soup to be more soupy (and less stewy), or you can add it toward the end of the cooking time once you assess the consistency.
Assessing Consistency… One Hamburger Soup at a Time.
I think that should be my new tagline. Has a nice ring to it.
And now, I'm going to reveal something about myself that you might not know. I don't share this with many people, but I feel we have developed a certain level of trust through the years. Here goes: I like to stir tomato paste into anything I cook that has a beef broth base. So brisket… pot roast… stew… you name it. A little dab of tomato paste will catapult it into the heavens.
I feel better having shared this with you. I feel lighter.
Figuratively speaking, of course.
Now, it's time to season it up! Add some kosher salt—I start with just half a teaspoon at first. I can always add more later!
Next comes black pepper…
Dried parsley flakes (and I definitely could/would have used fresh if I'd had any)…
Ground oregano (you can also use ground thyme)…
And, to make sure the soup eaters are awake, a little bit of cayenne pepper.
Now just stir it all together, return it to the stovetop…
And bring it to a boil!
Then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 20 minutes or so, until the potatoes are firm but tender enough to eat.
Yum! Smells so, so good.
Now it's time to taste the soup and make any adjustments it needs: Add more salt if you wanna, a little more cayenne if it needs a little heat, a little more tomato paste if it needs more tang.
Then serve it up in all its chunky, flavorful glory!
My kids positively inhaled this. It was perfect for a perfectly frigid day.
And psssst: A little spoonful of parmesan cheese never hurt anyone. Yum!
Enjoy this, guys.
