My dear husband is sick, thanks to me, and feeling lousy about that, I thought I would make his favorite food, which just happens to be the best cure for anyone under the weather.
Chicken soup.
Now, my rendition is Grandma Minnie's Chicken soup. A simple, rustic Italian version of chicken noodle soup, that was lovingly handed down to me from my mother in law.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into pieces, skin on, bone in....(we want flavor people)
1 lb. of carrots, peeled and left whole
4-6 celery ribs left whole, bottoms trimmed, leaves are optional
1 medium onion peeled and left whole (seeing a pattern yet?)
8 oz. of canned tomato sauce (plain, not spaghetti sauce)
3 large chicken bouillon cubes (or 5-6 small ones)
1 lb of Acini de Pepe pasta ( you can use any soup size pasta, its fun to experiment)
grated Romano cheese for garnish, (Parmesan would be ok if you could not get Romano.)
The first thing you want to do is fill a large stock pot with cold water, I use a pasta pot because it has a built in strainer. Leave a few inches from the top because as you add ingredients the water will rise.
Turn the burner on med for now to slowly raise the temperature of the water. (this causes your stock to be less cloudy) I personally do not care, but for the sake of doing things the way you would learn at culinary school, and the purpose of me starting a blog, I listed that fact.
Add your chicken pieces and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to med/low and simmer for 1 hour. Occasionally skim off the fatty stuff that floats to the top.
After the chicken has been cooking for an hour Add everything EXCEPT the pasta and cheese. Cook for another 1.5 hours.
This is easy, right?
In a separate pot cook your pasta and drain. Tonight I am using stars, because my daughter picked them out.
Now when the soup is done, take out all the veggies and meat onto a platter, (at this point I take the skin off of the chicken) leaving just the broth.
This makes for a beautiful and different presentation. The broth is combined with the pasta, but the whole vegetables and chicken are served family style, that way you can add the spoon tender vegetables and chicken in what ever quantity you like and, for purists like my husband, not at all. Please note the broth is not salty, its very mild. Adding grated Romano cheese brings a pungent, saltiness to the dish.
Now, this is the traditional way that I learned to make this comforting soup. I had never saw soup prepared this way. I was a -cut -up- everything- and- put- it -in- the- pot kind of girl. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Heck if you want to, go ahead, just don't cook it as long. I am also a person who cannot for the life of me, stick to a recipe.
I do everything the same, except I throw in 2 whole garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, alittle salt and pepper. Occasionally I put some dried basil. Sometimes, if the broth is a little too light, I add more tomato sauce or bouillon. I also take the chicken and vegetables (at the end) and chop them with a knife and place the mixture in the bowl so that I can make my soup have everything in it.
Variations:
To all my vegetarians:
Maybe by using a vegetable bouillon and adding some chopped escarole, and extra vegetables and tomato sauce, and alittle white wine, this would turn into a lovely vegetable broth. Cook for 1.5 hours and adding some cannelini beans half way through would provide some extra sustenance. This would be similar to a Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta with Beans).
Perks:
Aside from being a cold remedy, this is a double duty dish. The chicken is so moist and tender and makes a delicious chicken salad sandwich when tossed with mayo, celery etc. or freeze the cooked chicken for a pot pie.
Grandmothers.
If you ask most people some of their fondest memories of their grandma, nona, nana or in my case Nannie, I can almost guarantee that it will include food. Nannie's food was such a manifestation of love. Comforting, nurturing and nostalgic. I will never forget her feeding me delicious food, and that, feeds my soul.
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