Recipe Thursday
Soup-a-loup!! This is an amazing soup that I should have tried years ago. See, I have this book. It’s called The Pocket Soup Cookbook and I think I’ve had it for about 10 years and I really love it. Well, most of all I love looking at it and dreaming about making all the soups. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve made a few from it. And the thing is I’ve enjoyed every one of the soups I’ve made from it, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this one turned out. I just wish I’d try them out more often 🙂
Italian Chicken and Pasta Soup
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 green pepper, finely diced
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 bulb fennel, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
- 1/2 tsp basil (dried), crushed
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 300g fresh cheese tortellini or ravioli
- 1 cup cooked chicken, diced
- 3 zucchini, coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsp creme fraiche
- 1 tbsp fresh basil
- 2-3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
In a saucepan heat oil and add pepper, onion, fennel, garlic, fennel seeds and dried basil. Cook over a low heat, for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are soft. Pour stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Bring back to the boil, then add tortellini an zucchini. Boil for a further 10-15 minutes until pasta is cooked. Stir in creme fraiche and fresh basil. Ladle into bowls and garnish with Parmesan cheese.
Notes: I altered the recipe a lot.
- I didn’t have cooked chicken, so I didn’t use any. I made chicken stock awhile ago and (rightly) figured it would give good enough chicken flavour.
- This book is fond of creme fraiche, but I never use it. I either substitute (plain yogurt can do the trick) or completely omit it. I omitted it in this recipe.
- I do not have fresh basil and it costs too much to get it. Therefore, I omitted it.
- I had fresh parm, but I forgot to add it. Boo on me!
- It turned out perfectly awesome! And don’t be afraid of using fennel – it’s a very mild licorice flavour and the synergy it has with the other soup flavours is great!
