Grandmas Italian Chicken Soup Recipes

ITALIAN CHICKEN SOUP WITH PASTA AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with 14 cups water, chicken pieces, backbone, wings, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Skim foam, reduce heat, and gently simmer for 25 minutes. Remove chicken (except wings); continue simmering while you discard skin and remove meat from bones. Cover meat and refrigerate; return bones to pot and simmer 3 1/2 hours more.
• Strain broth through a fine-mesh sieve and discard solids, including bones and wings. Skim fat and transfer broth to a clean pot. Add onions, carrots, fennel, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are very tender, 25 minutes.
• Cut or tear reserved chicken into 3 cups of bite-size pieces. (You'll end up with an extra cup of meat; save it for a salad or a sandwich.) Add to broth, along with ditalini, basil, and lemon juice. Heat through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, top with red-pepper flakes and Parmesan, and serve.

GRANDMA'S CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and oil, and boil for 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and rinse under cool running water.
• In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine broth, salt, and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil. Stir in celery and onion. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water together until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Gradually add to soup, stirring constantly. Stir in noodles and chicken, and heat through.

GRANDMA'S CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Clean chicken and remove some, but not all, fat. Place in a 2-quart soup pot with carrots, celery, tomatoes, and onion. Tie all dill sprigs into a bunch with kitchen string; add to the pot with salt and pepper. Add water until chicken is covered by 2 inches.
• Cook over medium-low heat until chicken is just about cooked through, about 3 hours. Remove chicken to a platter and allow to cool slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut meat off the bones, place meat back into the pot, and discard the bones. Cook over medium-low heat until heated through, about 30 minutes longer. Remove dill before serving.

ITALIAN CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• In large pot, cover chicken with water. Add onion, parsnip, rutabaga, celery, carrot, potato (if desired) parsley and dill to water. Bring water to boil. Lower temperature to simmer and cook until chicken is tender.
• When tender, remove chicken from pot. Be especially sure that there are no bones left in the bottom of the pot. When cool, remove chicken from bones and cut into small bite-sized pieces. Return chicken pieces to pot and add crushed tomatoes to water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes to "marry" flavors.
• Add pasta to the bottom of individual bowls and pour soup on top.
• Top with dumplings if desired.

GRANDMOM LENA'S ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP

Steps:

• Prepare soup:.
• Place chicken in a large stock pot with just enough cold water to cover.
• Slowly bring to a boil and skim off the brown foam that rises to the surface.
• Once the brown foam subsides, add the rest of the ingredients except the salt and pepper.
• Boil chicken gently for approximately 2-3 hours until the meat is falling off the bone and the vegetables are very soft.
• Strain the meat and vegetables from the broth.
• Pull meat off the bones and break into spoon sized pieces and return to the broth.
• Finely mince the carrot and return that to the broth. Set aside.
• Prepare meatballs:.
• In a food processor add the eggs, garlic and parsley. Pulse on and off until minced but not a complete emulsion. You want very fine pieces.
• In a large bowl add the three ground meats and top with the egg mixture and salt and pepper.
• With your hands, begin to work the meats together with the egg.
• Add cheese and some of the breadcrumbs.
• Add as much or as little breadcrumb that you need until the mixture is somewhat moist, holds together, and not too dry.
• Roll mixture into small meatballs approx the same diameter as a quarter.
• In a medium sized saucepan, bring about 2 cups of the college inn chicken broth to a simmer.
• Drop the little meatballs into the college inn and poach until cooked through (about 3 minutes) remove with a slotted spoon and add to reserved soup. Continue until all the meatballs are cooked.
• Strain liquid left over in saucepan through cheesecloth and add to the soup that now has meatballs and chicken pieces in it.
• In another large stockpot, bring a large amount of salted water to a rolling boil.
• Add the thoroughly washed escarole to the water and allow to return to a boil.
• Cook until bright green slightly tender (don't overcook here in the water) remove with a large slotted spoon or strain into a colander.
• Add to stock pot with soup. Add remaining college inn to the soup (enough to cover all ingredients in pot) and bring to a simmer.
• Add additional 1/3 cup locatelli to simmering soup.
• Tastes best if refrigerated overnight and warmed thoroughly the next day.