Beef and Pasta Soup

It's the final night of our Trifecta* and I'm looking forward to another winning ticket. Nothing beats soup on a cold, wintry night and we've been having plenty of those lately.

*this recipe uses leftover Merlot Pot Roast (recipe here)

Yield:  about 8 cups

1 cup chopped onion
1 tbs canola oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 (8 oz) package sliced mushrooms
2 cups chopped Merlot pot roast
1 cup vegetable mixture from Merlot pot roast sauce
1/2 cup uncooked acini di pepe (or other small pasta)
32 oz beef broth (this is what the recipe called for; I used strained leftover gravy from night 1 and enough beef broth to make the 32 oz and I highly recommend this as the flavor is so much better)

Saute onion in hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat  (about 5 minutes). Add carrots and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, 8 - 10 minutes longer, until mushrooms are tender.
Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5-6 minutes or until acini di pepi is al dente and soup is thoroughly heated.

Served with a homemade seasoned croutons.
*************************************
TASTE NOTES
I loved the pot roast. I loved the shepherd's pie pot pies. BUT, this soup got first place in my book. It was so rich and flavorful because I strained the leftover gravy and used that with beef broth to equal 32 ounces instead of just using beef broth. It had fresh vegetables as well as vegetables that had cooked along with the roast. It had pasta and that wonderful shredded beef. It reminded me of that elusive beef soup my mom used to make and which I've tried many times to replicate. I do think she may have used boneless chuck. I will make all 3 of these dishes again, but this soup will always be the clear winner.