Italian Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Soup
On a cold winter night a big bowl of this hearty soup served with a crusty piece of bread and a salad is a wonderful dinner for family and friends. We had some special friends over last week and I served this and it was a hit. You can roast your vegetables ahead of time and cook your chicken in the crockpot or use leftover shredded chicken. Bethany tried a very similar recipe from www.againstallgrain.com and let me taste it. I loved the Italian spices because it reminded me of the food we ate on our anniversary trip this fall so I made some Growing Weisser adaptations to make it our own. Here are the ingredients I used…
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 carrots, peeled and cubed
- 6 stalks celery cut into ½ inch slices
- 1-2 leeks washed and cut into ½ inch rounds
- 3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- 2 yellow onion
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8 cups chicken stock, store-bought or homemade
- 2 pounds uncooked chicken breasts
- 2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2-3 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2-3 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2-3 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoon seasoned pepper
- 3-4 zucchini cut into ¼ inch slices
- 4-6 cups baby spinach
I chose to cook my chicken the day before in a crock pot. I used a box of chicken bone broth from Costco to add protein and a richness in flavor. I cooked the 4 large frozen chicken breasts on high in the crockpot for 4-5 hours. If your chicken is fresh or thawed you can probably cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. While the chicken was cooking I roasted my vegetables by cutting the onion in cubes and tossing with celery, leeks, butternut squash and sweet potato in a bowl. Add olive oil, crushed or minced garlic, salt, pepper and spices and mix thoroughly. Place vegetable mixture on foil covered roasting pans so that vegetables are in a single layer. Roast in a 400 degree over for 30-40 minutes. When roasted vegetables are just fork tender, remove half of them and blend in your vitamix or cuisinart with 1 cup broth to make a vegetable puree that will be added to the broth to make it rich and creamy. remove the chicken from the crockpot and shred or cut into chunks. In a large pot place the chicken broth from the crockpot that has been strained so the particles from the cooked chicken do not go into the soup. Add the remaining roasted vegetables, the cut up chicken, the vegetable puree and the chicken stock or broth. Adjust seasoning (I added another teaspoon of each oregano, thyme and rosemary). Add the spinach and zucchini and simmer until the spinach wilts and the zucchini is tender.
Serve with crusty bread and a large green salad.
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 carrots, peeled and cubed
- 6 stalks celery cut into ½ inch slices
- 1-2 leeks washed and cut into ½ inch rounds
- 3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- 2 yellow onion
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8 cups chicken stock, store-bought or homemade
- 2 pounds uncooked chicken breasts
- 2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2-3 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2-3 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2-3 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoon seasoned pepper
- 3-4 zucchini cut into ¼ inch slices
- 4-6 cups baby spinach
- I chose to cook my chicken the day before in a crock pot. I used a box of chicken bone broth from Costco to add protein and a richness in flavor. I cooked the 4 large frozen chicken breasts on high in the crockpot for 4-5 hours. If your chicken is fresh or thawed you can probably cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
- While the chicken was cooking I roasted my vegetables by cutting the onion in cubes and tossing with celery, leeks, butternut squash and sweet potato in a bowl.
- Add olive oil, crushed or minced garlic, salt, pepper and spices and mix thoroughly.
- Place vegetable mixture on foil covered roasting pans so that vegetables are in a single layer.
- Roast in a 400 degree over for 30-40 minutes.
- When roasted vegetables are just fork tender, remove half of them and blend in your vitamix or cuisinart with 1 cup broth to make a vegetable puree that will be added to the broth to make it rich and creamy.
- Remove the chicken from the crockpot and shred or cut into chunks.
- In a large pot place the chicken broth from the crockpot that has been strained so the particles from the cooked chicken do not go into the soup.
- Add the remaining roasted vegetables, the cut up chicken, the vegetable puree and the chicken stock or broth.
- Adjust seasoning (I added another teaspoon of each oregano, thyme and rosemary).
- Add the spinach and zucchini and simmer until the spinach wilts and the zucchini is tender.
What has been your favorite new soup recipe this winter?
