Today’s dreary forecast of a rain/snow mix was the perfect day to complete this month’s Garden Gourmet Challenge. February’s challenge was crock pot soup or stew, and having a soup recipe in my family that has to be cooked all day long provides the perfect opportunity to alter it slightly in order to let it simmer all day in the crock pot while we work. It seems like a lot of work, but it is in fact quite simple.

This soup has been in my family for as long as I can remember. My great grandmother used to make it when we visited in the winter (and sometimes summer too!). It is the ultimate comfort food and I always got beyond excited when my dad announced that was what was simmering on the stove. Every time I eat Pastina it brings back so many great memories from my childhood.

When choosing a roast for this recipe, you want a Chuck roast that has marbling similar to that of a sirloin steak. The end result will be shredded beef that is just perfect for this soup. Don’t be scared of the fat–it provides tons of flavor. You need about 1 pound of roast, so get a larger one and cut it in half or thirds to get a 1 pound chunk.

Another important part of this soup is the pasta. Barilla makes a pasta called Pastina (which is why we call this soup Pastina) but it’s a bit hard to find. I ended up buying a pasta made by De Cecco called Acini di pepe. If you cannot find either, you want a very small pasta (but not couscous). We have used alphabet letters and stars before due to not being able to find the correct pasta. I suppose it doesn’t really matter what kind it is, but large pastas will definitely make a difference. So find the small stuff. Pastina are small round bb-like pieces of pasta.

You’ll need:

1 pound boneless Chuck roast
½ head celery
1 pound carrots
2 boxes low sodium chicken broth
8oz can tomato sauce
½ of a 1 pound box Pastina or Acini di pepe pasta
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
salt & pepper (to season roast before searing)
Parmesan cheese

Preheat skillet and crock pot to high heat. Season both sides of your roast with salt and pepper, and place in preheated skillet. Sear both sides (don’t do the short edges–you want some of the flavor to be able to escape) until each are golden brown. Place seared roast in the bottom of your crock pot. Reduce heat to low.

Cut the celery (use the entire head–leaves and all) and the carrots into 2 inch pieces, halving larger pieces long-ways so everything cooks evenly. Add the celery and carrots to the crock pot. Add the tomato sauce, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and add enough chicken broth to fill your crock pot to about half an inch from the top. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Turn the crock pot on high and cook the pasta as directed on the stove (it’s best to cook it al dente so that it doesn’t get too mushy in the soup). Remove the roast from the crock pot and shred it with two forks, then remove the vegetables (we usually just put our roast and veggies on a plate together). Add enough hot water to the crock pot to fill it back up to ½ inch from the top. Dish the meat and vegetables into bowls, spoon pasta over it, then cover with the broth in the crock pot. Top with Parmesan.

I will admit, Matt and I nearly polished off the entire pot of soup (because it is just that good), but this could easily feed 4 people.