A Big Pot of Home-style Love w/tortellini soup

This just seemed like a great night for soup. This recipe uses a Dutch oven type of heavy pan on the stove top. Somehow it gives more of a home cooked Italian taste when you use this, like something you would see in the kitchen of the old “Golden Girls” TV show.  LOL!  “Picture this”.  No matter where you were raised, the image of an Italian woman stirring a big simmering pot portrays the essence of caring & serving.

 

So go ahead and share a bowl or two with an elderly neighbor. It is a great way to build happy memories. The kind that one day will come in handy to help you through a tough time.  

 Ingredients:

 1 ½ lbs. skinless, boneless chicken thighs

 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

 Salt and pepper

1 32 ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth

1 9oz. bag tortellini pasta

9oz. package  frozen spinach, thawed & drained

Carrots sliced

1 yellow onion,   chopped

2 stalks celery sliced ½ inch

Directions:

Thaw and drain the spinach!

Do your cutting: chop the onion, slice then carrots and celery.

In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Brown the chicken pieces on sides, 6 to 8 minutes and remove to plate. 

 

 

Let cool slightly while onions cook, before cutting up the chicken into bite sized pieces. 

 

Add onion to the pot and cook for about 4 minutes, then add the carrots and celery, continue to stir and cook for another 4 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Cut up the chicken and add the pieces.

Stir in the spinach and let cook for 10 minutes. If needed, add 2 cups water to the pot and add the tortellini.  Cook for about 5 more minutes. Reduce to a simmer.

This is a classic Italian soup and will really impress any guest your Master might invite.  Serve with a heated Italian loaf, sliced.

Reheating leftovers is easy by adding a few cups more of chicken broth before heating. This will really stretch this soup while not watering it down.

Sharing at mealtime is a great habit to get into. Even if you are not the greatest chef in the world, your caring and effort will flavor the memory stronger than any spice.  Heating a loaf of bread from the bakery, and this pot simmering on the stove top will be a wonderful gift to your home and the loved ones in it.

Let's share some music now:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCW1i5HQ0o0

Some Lou Rawls

Serving my Master Indy

socialslave  

 To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes by Dan White 

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM via @amazon