Christmas Notebook

Our daughter has been home from school for two days with a cold, coughing, fever, etc. I had planned to make Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad for supper tonight, but thought a chicken soup would be better for a sick girl. After looking at a few chicken and tortellini recipes, I came up with my own version.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

2 large chicken breasts, thawed if previously frozen (or 2 c. cooked diced chicken)
stock pot with enough water to cover the chicken breasts
1 c. celery, diced
1 c. carrots, diced
1 onion diced [I used 1 T. dry onion flakes.]
1 T. celery seed
1 tsp. dry basil
1 tsp. freshly minced thyme (or 1/2 tsp. dry thyme)
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 c. chicken broth
12 oz. cheese tortellini pasta [I used dry pasta.]
1/2 c. fresh parsley, chopped
3 c. spinach leaves, chopped
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes (do not drain)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
freshly grated Parmesan for garnish, optional

Put the chicken, celery, carrots, onion, celery seed, basil, thyme and garlic in the stock pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a bare simmer, cover, and cook the chicken for 15 minutes. Check internal temperature. Chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165*. If you don’t have an instant read thermometer, the chicken is done when the juices run clear. Cutting into the thickest part of the chicken should show white meat, with no pink.

Remove chicken and let it rest for ten minutes before dicing it. If using chicken that has already been cooked, simmer the veggies and spices in the stockpot with 2 or 3 inches of water until tender, then proceed from here:

Add the chicken stock to the water and veggies. Bring to rolling boil and add the pasta. Cook for about half the time recommended. Remove from heat. The pasta will continue to cook in the hot liquid.

Dice the chicken and return it to the pot.

Add the parsley, spinach and crushed tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir well.

Serve hot with crusty bread. Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan on top each bowl, if desired. A crisp Romaine salad would be good with it.

After the soup sits, the pasta will soak up a lot of the moisture. If you want your soup with more liquid, add more. Water, broth, or tomato juice/sauce would work fine.

Enjoy! ~~Rhonda