1. Brown and drain your ground beef. Set it aside in a covered bowl until ready to use. 2. Chop your onions, celery, and garlic finely. 3. Slice your tomatoes discarding the end pieces. 4. Lightly spray the bottom of a 5 quart (or larger) stewpot with cooking spray. Saute your onions, celery, and garlic until the celery is fork-tender. 5. Add your chicken broth. If you prefer your soup with a thicker consistency, reduce the amount of chicken broth, or increase the amount of fire roasted tomatoes. 6. Bring to a gentle boil, then add all other ingredients EXCEPT the ground beef. Continue to boil about 5 minutes. 7. Reduce heat to simmer and add your browned ground beef. Omit the groud beef if you want a vegetarian soup. 8. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and more Italian Seasoning to suit your taste preferences. 9. Serve with a variety of toppings on the side which your guests can add on their own. Shredded Italian cheeses, grated Parmesan Cheese, Chopped Spring Onions, and Seasoned Bread Crumbs work well. 10. Your guests will think you were born in Sicily as they warm up their taste buds with a bowl of your soup. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nutrition
Ingredients
