Beef Caldo with Spinach

This is a highly nutritious and wonderful Mexican soup, called a ‘caldo.’ It is too dense to be a soup, and is almost a stew, except the liquid hasn’t been thickened. The flavors are deep and rich. I almost never use ‘cubed beef’ any more, unless it’s truly necessary as I think these thin slices are far better. Try this caldo, and you’ll see why!

Original recipe makes 6 servings

Ingredients

vegetable oil for browning
1 pound beef round, thinly sliced then cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
6 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
4 new potatoes, quartered
2 cups tomato puree
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup red wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1 (14.5 ounce) can beef broth

PREP

1 hr
COOK

1 hr
READY IN

2 hrs

Directions

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir meat until well browned on all sides, then transfer to a large stock pot. Cook and stir onions in the same skillet in the fat remaining from the meat. When lightly browned and tender, stir in tomatoes. Continue cooking until some of the tomato liquid has evaporated, then transfer to the stock pot with the meat.
In a separate skillet, brown the potatoes in a small amount of oil over medium-high heat, turning occasionally. Add the potatoes to the meat, along with the tomato puree, spinach, red wine, garlic, and oregano. Add just enough beef broth or water to cover meat and vegetables, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for one hour.