Italian Chicken Minestrone Recipes

CHICKEN MINESTRONE SOUP

Steps:

• In a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven, cook the carrots, celery, and onion in hot oil over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add broth, white kidney beans, chicken, green beans, and pepper. Bring to boiling; add pasta. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
• Stir in zucchini. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes more or until pasta is tender and green beans are crisp-tender. Stir in undrained tomatoes; heat through. Makes 8 servings.

ITALIAN CHICKEN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and cook until softened, 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add tomatoes with juice and cook until liquid is evaporated, 4 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add pasta, carrots, and Parmesan rind, if using, and cook 5 minutes. Add kale, zucchini, and chickpeas and cook until zucchini is crisp-tender, 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and cook until warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove rind before serving. Sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired.

QUICK CHICKEN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the chicken, onion and celery in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the broth, water, beans, tomatoes, rice and vermicelli mix, vegetables, pepperoni, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. , Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until rice is tender, 18-20 minutes. Sprinkle each serving with cheese and, if desired, pepper flakes.

CLASSIC MINESTRONE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook onion, carrot, celery, garlic and rosemary until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in tomato sauce, beans and 2 1/2 cups water. Add broth, zucchini, pasta and pepper; bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in parsley. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese and additional parsley, if desired.

MINESTRONE

Steps:

• In a large bowl let the white beans soak in enough water to cover them by 2 inches overnight or quick-soak them. Drain the white beans, in a saucepan combine them with enough water to cover them by 2 inches, and simmer them, uncovered, adding more water if necessary to keep them barely covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until they are tender. Add the salt and simmer the white beans for 5 minutes more. Remove the pan from the heat and let the white beans stand, uncovered.
• In a heavy kettle cook the pancetta in the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until it is crisp and pale golden, add the onion, and cook the mixture, stirring, until the onion is softened. Add the carrots, the celery, and the garlic and cook the mixture, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the zucchini, the green beans, and the potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice, and cook the mixture, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the cabbage and the kale and cook the mixture, stirring, until the cabbage is wilted. Add the tomatoes and the broth and simmer the soup, covered, for 1 hour.
• Drain the white beans, reserving the liquid, in a blender or food processor purée half of them with 1 cup of the reserved liquid, and stir the purée and the remaining white beans into the soup. Simmer the soup, uncovered, for 15 minutes, thin it if desired with some of the remaining reserve liquid, and season it with salt and pepper. The soup may be made 3 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Reheat the soup, thinning it with water as desired. Serve the soup with the Parmesan, the bruschetta, and the sausages.

MINESTRONE WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the carrots, celery and leek; cook for 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, green beans and garlic; cook 1 minute longer. , Stir in the broth, tomatoes, cabbage, basil, oregano and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 45 minutes. , Return to a boil. Stir in the garbanzo beans, pasta and parsley. Cook for 6-9 minutes or until pasta is tender. Serve with cheese.

ITALIAN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• HEAT oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add celery, onion and garlic. Cook and stir until crisp-tender.
• ADD cabbage and carrots. Cook and stir until crisp-tender. Stir in tomatoes with juice, tomato juice and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
• MIX in the three kinds of beans, parsley, oregano and basil. Simmer 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and flavors have blended.
• STIR in cooked pasta and Parmesan cheese just before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on the side.

QUICK CHICKEN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Bring all ingredients except cheese to boil in large saucepan, stirring occasionally.
• Simmer on medium-low heat 10 min. or until chicken is done and pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.
• Serve topped with remaining cheese.

RUSTIC ITALIAN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes more.
• Add the tomatoes, vegetable or chicken broth and herbs, bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer.
• Add the green and cannellini beans and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Add the zucchini and pasta and simmer for 10 minutes, or until all of the vegetables are tender and the pasta is al dente. Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve the soup in large bowls with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

MINESTRONE WITH CHICKEN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the kale and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and tomato and bring to a boil. Stir in the stock, water and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover partially and simmer until well flavored, about 1 hour. During the last 10 minutes, drain the beans, rinse with cold running water and drain again, then add to the pot along with the basil. Season with salt and red pepper flakes. Discard the bay leaf.
• Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the chicken, half of the cheese, the bread crumbs, egg, the 1/2 teaspoons salt and the 1/4 teaspoons black pepper. Increase the heat under the soup to medium and bring to a light boil. Drop rounded tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the soup. Their texture will firm up on contact with the hot liquid. Cover and cook until the meatballs are cooked through, about 12 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and black pepper.
• Ladle into warmed individual bowls and serve hot. Pass the remaining cheese at the table.