Italian Chicken Soup

Italian Chicken Soup

Before I started to learn a lot about cooking (from someone who spent more than a decade in the restaurant business), I bought all my soups in cans. I never even attempted to cook soup from scratch. Now in retrospect, I wish my younger me spent the time to learn how to make more meals at home instead of buying most of my meals out. Meals out are great, sometimes. But, for people concerned with health (excess salt, fat, etc.), the lack of nutrition info can throw off a healthy regiment or diet. First off, when you order something in a restaurant, you really have no clue what’s going into the meal, besides the few main ingredients listed on the menu. And second, the chefs may cook the same meal a little differently every time you go. Sometimes, though, a soup out is thoroughly enjoyable, and delicious, and it’s worth the lapse in diet. I particularly like potato soup at Fridays and squash soup at a local fancy Italian restaurant.

I find that when I cook meals at home, I have those same experiential moments as in a restaurant, savoring each bite or spoonful. We often say that our cooking is like eating out, because we are capturing those flavors. I believe that if you have to cook, you might as well really enjoy what you are making. We put effort and heart into it.

What’s great about learning how to make chicken soup is that this hearty meal is good all year round; if you make plenty, you’ll have some left over to freeze for those occasional sniffles. Any time someone in our family has a sore throat, I make this Italian Chicken Soup and load up on garlic and onions, which are immune-boosting ingredients.

Garlic, for example, can fight bacteria, lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of some cancers and prevent stroke and heart disease, according to The Doctors Book of Food Remedies. Garlic is a natural blood thinner and it can also help reduce total cholesterol. Onions are an anti-inflammatory and relieve congestion; onions may also help lower blood pressure, per The Doctors Book of Food Remedies.

We call it Italian Chicken Soup because we add parmesan cheese on the top. It melts right in and adds another layer of flavor. This is different than the chicken soup I had growing up. It’s amazing what a little shredded cheese can do. Think about how onion soup is taken to another level with some shredded swiss. I cannot eat homemade chicken soup now without the parmesan.

The recipe below can be modified. For example, the tomato is not really necessary. It’s good to have a bone-in chicken breast or thigh, but any chicken will do in a pinch. You can take a cutlet out, or a few frozen chicken wings. I find that the bone-in piece of chicken comes out the best. It also shreds well. Usually, I add a lot of carrots and celery. Sometimes I’ll use a celery heart, chopped, and a small bag of carrots, peeled, and chopped. I tend to use one large onion and a few cloves of garlic, minced.

Recipe:

• Bone-in chicken breast, with skin (substitute: 2-3 chicken wings, bone-in thigh or chicken cutlet)
• Onion, chopped
• Carrot (a few stalks to 1 small bag) cut into 1-inch pieces
• Celery (a few stalks to 1 celery heart) cut into 1-inch pieces
• Garlic, 2-3 cloves, minced
• Bay leaf
• Tomato, cut in half with juice squeezed into pot (for richer color) *optional
• 1-2 cans of chicken stock or 1-2 cubes of chicken bullion
• A little salt, a little pepper

Add all ingredients into a large pot. Fill up pot with water. Heat to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes. Remove chicken. Pull chicken shreds from bone and place shreds of chicken back in soup. Cook 10 more minutes. Serve with cooked pasta or rice and shredded parmesan cheese.