Green bean soup in the Lower Rhine style

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 500 g beef
• 50 g vegetable fat or oil
• 1 kg beef bones
• 250 g streaky bacon (Gelderland bacon)
• 2 onions
• 750 g green beans
• 500 g floury potatoes
• 160 g carrot(s)
• 200 g leek
• 300 g celery
• 4 tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 bunch of lovage (Maggi herb)
• 3 sprigs savory
• 1 chili pepper(s)
• salt and pepper
• e.g. tomato paste

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours

Stew with fresh green beans and beef, green bean stew

Wash the green beans, remove any strings if necessary, and cut into diagonal pieces (shred). Heat the fat. Cut the beef into marrow-sized pieces and sear with the beef bones (possibly in several batches). Dice the bacon and onions, add them, and let them crisp up. Instead of beef bones, the soup can also be topped up with a good beef broth. In this case, use correspondingly less water. Deglaze everything with about 2 liters of hot water. After 30 minutes, add the cleaned and diced vegetables, the potatoes, the chopped beans, the spices, and the herbs, and let the soup simmer gently for another 45-60 minutes. Stir the stew occasionally and season with salt and pepper. Stir in a little tomato paste, if desired. P.S. The beans can also be frozen or canned.