Accidentally Stew

Using a recipe as a guide is a good thing to be able to do.  That way, you can tailor things to the way you like them, substitute ingredients, change it up a little.  I never ever used to be able to do that, as I've discussed here before.  Back in the day, I would follow recipes exactly as written.  Sometimes, this would work out for me, sometimes not.  As I got more confident in the kitchen, I was more willing to experiment a little, and change recipes to suit my family's tastes.  Good, right?

But yesterday, I got cocky.

You see, we were having a little hootenanny, and I wanted to get something in the slow cooker so that when everyone left, dinner would be ready.  Kev found a slow-cooked minestrone recipe in the Wegman's magazine.  It got great reviews, and looked really good and easy.  So I decided to use it as a guide and make a few little changes.  For example, I didn't want to get the plastic bag of pre-cut  veggies, so I got some carrots, celery, garlic, and an onion, and chopped them up myself.  I also don't like diced tomatoes, so I left those out.  Instead of Wegman's Italian tomato sauce, I used Hunt's plain tomato sauce (the big can), and added basil and oregano, and salt and pepper for seasoning, and I added a couple tablespoons of tomato paste.  And just for fun, I added some corn, cut off the cob, when I added the garbanzo beans and pasta.

And that's when things went wrong.  I forgot to consult my "guide" when it was time to add the pasta, and instead of 1/2 cup, I let Daphne pour in the whole box.  Yep. The whole box. Probably at least 2 cups of pasta, maybe more.

When I went back to check on things, I was shocked to find a giant pot of minestrone STEW.  There was barely any liquid left at all.  I am proud to say I did not panic.  I added a can of beef stock and about a cup of water, and adjusted the seasoning. This helped a little, but it was still far from being soupy.  Live and learn.

The good news is, I like stew.  It was still really really tasty.  Just very ditalini-intensive. Daphne helped make it, which was fun, and she got a couple of points toward her next New Food Chart goal (still undetermined) for trying minestrone and garbanzo beans.  Kev really liked it too.  And we had so much that he took some to lunch today, I froze a bunch of it, and we still have enough for leftovers tomorrow.  In spite of my huge mistake,  things ended well.  Yay!

There it is.  Sort of like Gourmet Spaghetti-o's. 

So, here is the original recipe, below.  I recommend it highly.  If you don't have a Wegman's, you'll have to work around their prepared products in the ingredients list.  You can use my changes above, or do your own thing.  But I don't recommend using a whole box of pasta.

Wegman's Slow-Cooked Beef Minestrone

Ingredients:

1 pkg (about 1.6 lbs) Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, cut into 1-inch cubes  (I used stew meat)
Wegmans Pan Searing Flour  (I skipped this)
2 Tbsp Wegmans Pure Olive Oil
1 pkg (16 oz) Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Minestrone Soup Vegetables  (I chopped my own - onion, celery, carrots, garlic)
Salt and pepper 
1 carton (32 oz) Food You Feel Good About Beef Culinary Stock  (I used Swanson's)
1 can (14.5 oz) Wegmans Italian-Style Diced Tomatoes  (I skipped this too)
1 pkg (24 oz) Italian Classics Seasoned Tomato Sauce (Prepared Foods)  (I used plain Hunt's sauce, plus basil and oregano to season the soup)
1/2 cup dry Italian Classics Ditalini Soup Pasta  (um...oops.)
1 can (15.5 oz) Italian Classics Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed 

(I added corn cut off the cob)
1 pkg (6 oz) Food You Feel Good About Baby Spinach  ( I used regular spinach) 

Directions:

1. Dust beef with pan-searing flour; pat off excess.
    
2. Heat oil in large braising pan on MEDIUM-HIGH until oil faintly smokes. Add beef; sear 10 min until all sides are paper-bag brown.
    
3. Transfer beef to slow cooker; don't discard pan drippings. Add vegetables to pan with beef drippings; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, 3 min; add to slow cooker.
    
4. Add stock, tomatoes, and sauce to slow cooker. Cover, cook 4 1/2-6 hours on HIGH or 8-10 hours on LOW.
     
5. Add dry pasta and beans 30 minutes before end of cooking on HIGH (45 minutes before end of cooking on LOW).
    
6. Add spinach to slow cooker; stir to blend well. Allow spinach to lightly wilt, about 2 min.