During the winter, one of my and Charity's favorite Sunday evening meals is chicken soup. We vary what kind of chicken soup that we make. Some days I will make a chicken and vegetable soup and other times I will make a chicken and rice soup. Sometimes I'll even make plane ole chicken noodle soup. However, this week we elected to make an Italian inspired Chicken and White Bean soup.
The start of any of our chicken soups is a good homemade chicken stock. Often during the work week, Charity and I will buy a cooked rotisserie chicken from the super market for dinner. We will then freeze the leftovers and the chicken carcass until we get two or three of them saved up. When it is time to make the soup, I will put the thawed carcasses, bones and all, into a soup pot. I will then add a half an onion, a couple carrots and a few sticks of celery. Next I add a couple heaps of minced garlic and what ever herbs I have on hand. Today I had some fresh thyme that I tied up with some chef string. I always start my stock with carton of Kitchen Classics salt free chicken stock. I will add water to fill up the pot and cover the carcasses. Next I let the stock simmer for an hour and a half to up to two hours. Then I let it liquid cool for a few hours. I usually start the stock at lunch to give me plenty of time to cook the soup.
Leftover chicken carcasses are the key ingredient to making homemade chicken stock
After the stock has cooled some, I use a slotted spoon to strain out the carcass meat & bones, the vegetables, and other large chunks from the stock. I separate the chicken meat from the bones, shred the meat by hand and put the meat back in the soup pot. I will also shred up any other left over chicken, usually chicken breast, and throw that in the soup pot to. I throw out the cooked vegetables used to make the stock.
Separating the chicken meat from the bones.
From here we decide what kind of soup we want. For the Chicken and White Bean soup I start with chopping the potatoes, carrots, and celery. I'll throw all of this into the soup pot along with two cans of rinsed small white navy beans. Salt and pepper to taste and bring the pot to a boil. Let the soup simmer on low for 30 minutes or so until the vegetables are cook.
Chopping vegetables for homemade Chicken and White Bean Soup
Once the soup is done, remove from the heat. I usually stir in some chopped up leafy green such as escarole, kale, or, like today, some flat leaf Italian parsley. That's it. Enjoy!!!
The fixings of a great Chicken and White Bean soup.
For the Chicken Stock:
- 2 to 3 leftover rotisserie chicken carcasses and leftover chicken meat
- 1/2 sweet onion, sliced and quartered
- 3 carrots, peeled and cut in half
- 3 celery stalks, cut in half
- 2 Tbsp (or more) minced garlic
- bunch of fresh thyme tied with chef twine
- 1 quart Kitchen Basics Salt Free Chicken Stock
- 2 Bay Leafs
Put contents into a heavy soup pot, add water to cover carcasses, and bring to a boil. Simmer for one and halt to two hours. Remove from heat and let cool. Then remove meat from the bones and place shredded meat back in soup pot. Throw out the remaining vegetables.
For the Chicken and White Bean Soup:
- 3 carrot, sliced
- 4 stalks of celery, sliced
- 2 16oz cans of white navy beans, rinsed
- 6 medium golden Yukon potatoes, quartered
- 4 cups of chopped escarole, kale or flat leaf Italian parsley
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Put all ingredients except for the chopped greens into soup pot with the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped greens and serve.