Beef Soup with Vegetables and Orzo – Fresh Piato

A mouthwatering Beef Soup with Vegetables and Orzo that you will cook over and over again!

What beef cuts are the best for this soup?

The best beef cut for this soup is the shank because it has great fat marbling and becomes very tender when you cook it on low heat for a long time. Alternatively, you can also use ox tail or Round cut.

Cooking the Beef Soup with a speed-cooker / pressure-cooker

A pressure cooker does wonders with soup recipes because not only does it tenderize the meat but also keeps all the juices inside the pot which results in more flavor and juices.
For this recipe, I cook the beef with the onions and the celery for about 1 hour in a pressure cooker and I use a second pot to cook the vegetables separately because they need very little cooking time.

The video has subtitles in English, Greek, and more than 30 languages.

Beef Soup with Vegetables and Orzo – Fresh Piato

Prep: 10m | Cook: 2h 30m | Total: 2h 40m | Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 kg Beef shank, cut into big chunks
3 large Onions, cut in quarters
2 Fresh Tomatoes, grated
2 Zucchini, cut into small cubes
2 Carrots, cut into small cubes
1 big Potato, cut into small cubes
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
Lemon Juice from 1 Lemon
1/3 cup Orzo
1/2 cup Celeriac leaves or Celery, roughly chopped
6 Tbsp Olive Oil, extra virgin, divided
Water about 1.5 L
2 pinch of Salt
2 pinch Pepper

Instructions:

Wash the beef and the vegetables and cut them as per the instructions above.
Add the Beef to a big pot, add enough water to cover it, and bring to a boil.
Skim off the foam that it will produce on top and add the Onions cut into fours, the celeriac leaves, 3 Tbsp Olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
With a normal pot: Reduce the heat (3/9) and let it simmer for about 2 – 2.5 hours.
With a pressure cooker*: As soon as it starts to whistle reduce the heat to the minimum of your stove for 30 minutes and then turn off the heat completely and let it cook for 1 hour.
When the meat is ready remove it on a bowl and cover it to keep it warm.
In a separate pot add the remaining vegetables: the potato, carrots, zucchini, tomato juice, garlic, 3 Tbsp Olive oil, 2 pinches of salt, 1 pinch of pepper, water just enough to cover them and bring to a boil over high heat.
Simmer for 10 minutes and the vegetables are ready.
Remove the veggies from the pot and pour in the juice from the pot that the meat was cooking. Add a couple of Tbsp of Olive oil, and bring to a boil.
Add the orzo to the boiling water.
Give it a little stir and then reduce the heat letting it simmer for 12 minutes (When its color turns a bit whiter on the edges it’s ready).
Pour the juice from 1 lemon, bring to a boil, check for seasoning, and the soup is ready.
Serve with fresh bread, Feta cheese, and enjoy!

Notes:

There are two types of Orzo small and big. I used the big size for this recipe.
The pressure cooker instructions are for the brand I’m using. In another pressure cooker brand, it might take less or more time to cook.

Did you make this recipe? Or are you planning to make it? Let me know in the comments below, tag me on Instagram @freshpiato or show me your photos on Pinterest!