Italian Beef Tortellini Stew
A hearty beef stew with tender chunks of beef, veggies, and cheese tortellini
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon each kosher salt and pepper, divided
- 1 pound beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 2 medium zucchini cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 celery ribs sliced
- 3 small carrots sliced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1-1/2 teaspoons each dried oregano basil and thyme
- 1 can 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth divided
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 package 9 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 1 package 6 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 1-2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
- Additional salt and pepper if desired
Instructions
- In a large shallow dish, combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt pepper. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and turn to coat. Shake off excess.
- In a Dutch oven, brown beef in 2 tablespoon oil; drain (I did this step in two batches adding a little oil on the second batch.) Remove and set aside. Deglaze pan with a splash of beef broth, scrapping up the browned bits. Pour into the rest of the broth.
- Add some olive oil to the same pan, saute the zucchini, onion, celery and carrots in remaining oil until tender (it took me a few batches given the size of my pan.) Add the garlic, oregano, basil and thyme; cook 1 minute longer.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add another splash of broth and loosen browned bits from pan. Return beef to pan; add the tomatoes, broth, sugar and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and bake until beef is tender, about 2 hours, stirring a few times.
- Place pan on stovetop and heat to bubbly. Add tortellini and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spinach and balsamic vinegar and cook for 3 additional minutes, until tortellini are tender. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired. Enjoy.