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This Italian Zucchini Stew is loaded with fresh garden-grown zucchini, tomatoes, ground beef, potatoes and green bell pepper. Don’t forget the Parmesan cheese on top!
All of the credit for today’s wonderful Italian Zucchini Stew recipe needs to go to Marguerite DiMino Buonopane, the author of one of our all-time favorite cookbooks called, “The North End Italian Cookbook.” It’s there that we found this easy and delicious ground beef and vegetable stew recipe.
That cookbook – now in its sixth edition – captures the true essence of Boston’s Italian North End neighborhood with so many great, authentically-delicious Italian family recipes. It is often one of the first cookbooks we reach for any time we are looking for a new recipe to try.
In the case of today’s Italian Zucchini Stew, we were simply looking to make a recipe where we could use up some of our garden zucchini – which are growing like crazy this summer!
We hadn’t set out planning to share this recipe here on A Family Feast – thinking it was too similar to the Zucchini Tomato Italian Sausage Soup we shared a few weeks ago. But this Italian Zucchini Stew has a completely different flavor profile – and it was so good, we had to share!
How do you make Italian Zucchini Stew?
In this simple stew, bite-sized pieces of zucchini are cooked together with diced tomatoes, ground beef, slices of potato, and diced green bell pepper plus seasonings. Most of the prep is chopping the vegetables – then it all cooks up quickly in a big pot. Once cooked through, stir in grated Parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve this Italian Zucchini Stew with crusty bread on the side and even more grated Parmesan cheese on top! This soup recipe makes enough to feed a crowd, and any leftovers can be heated up the next day for lunch.
You may enjoy these other summer soup recipes:
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Italian Zucchini Stew
This Italian Zucchini Stew is loaded with fresh garden-grown zucchini, tomatoes, ground beef, potatoes and green bell pepper. Don’t forget the Parmesan cheese on top!
Ingredients
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pound ground beef 15% fat (85/15)
1 cup onion diced
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic minced
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 small green bell pepper diced, about one cup
2 stalks celery minced fine, about one cup
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds zucchini cut into bite sized pieces, see tip in notes below
1 pound potatoes such as all purpose or new red, see tip in notes below
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup Parmesan grated plus more for serving
Additional salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
In a large Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat and add the ground beef, onion, garlic, pepper flakes, green pepper, celery, salt and pepper and sauté until meat has browned and the vegetables almost tender.
Add zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes and water. Bring to a gentle bubble, cover and reduce heat to low to medium low and cook for ten minutes.
Remove cover and add in tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes or just until the zucchini is cooked. Do not overcook the zucchini.
Remove from heat and add the cup of Parmesan and taste for additional salt and pepper.
Serve with additional Parmesan and crusty bread.
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Notes
Cut zucchini lengthwise in half then each half in half lengthwise again to get four long quarters. Then slice the opposite way into bite sized pieces.
Peel the potatoes and cut in half lengthwise. If they are small, cut into thin slices. If they are large, cut the half in half again and then into thin slices. You want the potatoes to be thin so they take a similar time to cook as the bigger zucchini pieces.
Made this last night as per all the instructions, I did add just a 1/2 t of Italian seasoning… Best stuff we ever ate. Just loved it.
Thanks so much Mark!
Absolutely delicious!! I used chicken broth instead of water, added a small purple topped turnip,chopped carrots, 2 tsp of italian seasoning. It was soooooo good!!! Will be on my regular rotation. I have the North End Italian cookbook and compared the 2 recipes. I think adding the cup of Parmesan cheese was the crowning touch! Thank you so much…..😊
You’re welcome Geri!
This was amazing. My 7 year old son helped me make this. We added yellow squash to make an even bigger batch. Needed a little extra water and tomato paste to balance the addition. We are currently eating it right now and I couldn’t wait to write a review of it. So delicious. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
You’re very welcome Rikki – so glad you enjoyed the stew!
We loved the stew. All the ingredients are staples in my house, so this was very easy to make after a hard day at work.
Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome Jennifer – glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Great recipe. I made it the night before we were going to eat it. I had my husband try it and he liked it so much he had a full bowl. He’s intermittent fasting and doesn’t eat dinner normally so this was a huge complement. The only change I made was adding the zucchini’s after 5 minutes of cooking. I figured with me putting in the fridge overnight it might cook a little more on reheating.
Great idea Toni! Glad the stew was a hit!
How many does this one cook up for????
Hi John – It makes a large pot – so 8-10 servings.
My family loved this dish. I used vegetable broth instead of water, sauted chopped mushrooms along with the beef peppers and onions. I also added parsley, oregano and basil.
Thanks Jessica – sounds delicious!
This was so delicious and easy. I also added corn from the garden. Will definitely be one of my favorites. Thank you.
You’re welcome Sandy – glad you enjoyed the soup!
Hello! I am a vegetarian and made this with Italian Sausages Crumbles and it came out extremely yummy. Thank you for this recipe 😊
You’re welcome Sallie – thanks for sharing a vegetarian option!
I used Italian sausage instead of ground beef! Delicious!
Glad you liked it! (We have a similar soup that uses sausage here: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/zucchini-tomato-italian-sausage-soup/)