Chicken Noodle Soup with an Italian Twist

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      Monday was a bit of a scavenger hunt in the kitchen when it came time to make dinner.  I had nothing planned and I REALLY didn't want to go to the grocery store....so I started foraging around the pantry and the fridge and freezer.  It's amazing what you can find when you know you need to make dinner and don't want to shop.  The first thing I figured out was that I wanted to make soup.  I had everything I needed to make traditional chicken noodle soup, but I really felt. like something with a little more pizazz...so a little more foraging and I had it.  I would make chicken noodle soup with an italian twist!

     How was I going to do this, you ask?  Well, I already had shredded chicken in the freezer, so the chicken part was taken care of.  I also had roasted red peppers and onions in the freezer as well as white wine, garlic, cannellini beans and a bountiful supply of canned tomatoes.  So along with the usual suspects for chicken noodle soup (chicken stock, carrots, celery, pasta), I was set.  I now had a plan!

    The end result was pretty darn tasty.  I put some red pepper flakes into it, so it had a little bit of zing to it.  It made a nice big pot of soup, so we are now reaping the rewards and have a lot of leftovers for lunch.

     If you decide to make this yourself but don't have any cooked chicken or roasted peppers and onions on hand, I have a couple of tips for you.  For the chicken, you could either use a rotisserie chicken, or you could cut up a pound of boneless chicken breasts.  Add the uncooked chicken to the soup and it will poach in the broth.  For the peppers and onions, you could either use a jar of roasted red peppers, or just cut up a fresh one and instead of the roasted onion, just cut up a raw onion.

Italian Style Chicken Noodle Soup



• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 large stalk celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups roasted red peppers and onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp herbes de Provence
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you want it spicier)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 6 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 1 15 ounce can cannellini beans
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 3 cups shredded chicken
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup short cut pasta (I used whole wheat fusilli)

First, get all your vegetables prepped.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add carrots and celery season with a small amount of salt and pepper.  Saute for a couple of minutes.

Add peppers, onion and garlic to the pan and combine.  Add red pepper flakes and herb de Provence and saute until peppers and onions are warm.

Add wine to pan, bring to a boil and allow to cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the beans and combine. Then add tomatoes and combine.

Then add the chicken stock and the chicken and bring to a boil.

Once soup is boiling, add peas and pasta.  Cook for about 10 more minutes, until pasta is tender.

When pasta is tender, turn off heat and stir in parsley.

Serve immediately.

ENJOY!


Shared at Recipes for My Boys on 10/13/11
Shared at Everday Sisters on 10/17/11
Shared at Easy Natural Food on 12/11/11