Italian Chicken Soup

Leftovers are good too.
Tried mozzarella. YUM!

This would be my grandma's birthday. She's the one who gave Nathan his piano talent (sadly, it skipped a couple generations). Whenever we went to her house, we'd find a pot of soup on the stove. Her house was always filled with the aroma of old-fashioned good cooking! As I prepared this soup, I thought of her sunny kitchen.

This Italian Chicken Soup recipe uses the leftover poached chicken from the chicken stock recipe and some of that yummy, rich stock. To prepare the chicken, remove the skin and bones and chop the chicken into bite size pieces.

Step One:

In a stock pot, combine the following ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil -- heat over medium heat before adding the next three ingredients
• 1 medium onion, chopped 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs. red pepper flakes (surprised?)

Cook until the onions are clear. Then add:

• 1/4 cup of tomato paste (I use the squeeze tube tomato paste. Flavorful and stores well in the fridge.)

Mix well and let it cook for just a couple minutes. Then add:

• 1 cup white wine. 

Simmer for 5 minutes. Then add:

• All the cooked chicken that you chopped into chunks
• 1 large can diced tomato
• 3 cups of chicken stock
• 3 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste (NOTE: The soup will continue to reduce, don't oversalt too early. You can add more later if you need it.)
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp basil
• 3 bay leaves (remove before you serve)

Stir it all together and bring to a boil. Then, reduce to a simmer and let it simmer for 30 minutes. (I poured mine into a crock pot to keep warm at this point, just because of time of day. OR you could make it the day before and heat it about 1/2 hour before dinner.)

Serve with salad, hearty bread, and parmesan cheese grated on the soup.

YUM!

Let me know what you think!!!

Blessings,