Rustic Ground Beef & Escarole Brodo

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 4 cups dairy-free beef broth
• 1 bunch escarole (or fresh spinach), roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp Salted Perfection Chili Lime Finishing Salt, divided

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Drop in the ground beef and spread it into an even layer. Let it sit completely undisturbed for three minutes before breaking it apart. We want to initiate the Maillard reaction; that deep browning is where complex, savory flavor compounds are born.
2. Once the beef is browned, push it to the perimeter of the pot where the heat is slightly lower. Add the diced onion, carrots, and celery to the center. Sautéing these aromatics in the rendered beef fat dissolves their fat-soluble flavor compounds, building a much richer baseline for the soup.
3. Stir in the minced garlic and tomato paste. Cook the tomato paste for about two minutes until it darkens from bright red to a deep brick color. This process caramelizes the natural sugars in the paste and cooks out the raw, metallic tomato flavor.
4. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and beef broth, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to lift any caramelized bits, known as fond. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the Chili Lime Finishing Salt. Bring the liquid to a simmer, lower the heat to maintain a gentle bubble, and let it cook for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
5. Stir in the chopped escarole during the last three minutes of cooking. We only want to wilt the greens rapidly to break down their rigid cell walls while preserving their structural integrity and vibrant color. Remove the pot from the heat.
6. Ladle the hot soup into bowls and evenly distribute the remaining 1 tablespoon of Chili Lime Finishing Salt over the top of each serving. This final hit of targeted acidity and salinity will hit the palate first, cutting right through the rich broth. DUNZO!