Peppery Chicken Noodle Soup

As you know, a couple of weeks ago I made my first rotisserie chicken. Since it's just my husband and me, we obviously had leftover chicken to use up. I deboned it and threw the meat in the freezer until I decided what to do with it. We settled on making a homemade chicken soup. I was looking at recipes for Sicilian Chicken Soup which looked delicious so we decided to make a version similar to that.

I'm not sure what technically classifies a soup as "Sicilian Chicken Soup" so we decided to call our version something else. We chose Peppery Chicken Noodle Soup because that is exactly what it is. This is a very flavorful soup with peppery broth that is chock full of veggies, shredded chicken, and hearty pasta. It's pretty amazing.

My hubby (who isn't even a big fan of soup) ate 2 big bowls, told me it was "nummy", and suggested I send the recipe to his Mom. For me, that is the ultimate compliment!

I should mention, however, that I am not very good at making meals for just the two of us. Somewhere in my brain, I'm still programmed to make meals for a big family growing up. This recipe filled my dutch oven! So if you don't want a full pot of soup, just go ahead and cut the recipe down. I'll eventually find the switch to reprogram my crazy brain to make meals for just 2 people, but for now...we eat a lot of leftovers. :)

Like my husband said, this is such a hearty soup that you could easily nix the chicken and it would be a very filling vegetable noodle soup. Also, if you aren't a big fan of peppery things, just cut back on the amount of pepper you add. It will still taste delicious. I promise. :)

Peppery Chicken Noodle Soup

{Since we had so much leftover, we realized that next time we won't add all the pasta at once. After a couple days, the pasta soaked up most of the broth and got a little soggy. So, if you're making this in hopes of having leftovers, I would suggest only adding the pasta to the soup you are serving at the moment.}

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 red onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

3 celery stalks, diced

6 small potatoes (about 2-3 cups), diced

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes

32 oz. chicken stock

32 oz. vegetable stock

3 c. chicken, cooked & shredded

16 oz. rigatoni pasta

salt & pepper

parsley (fresh or dried)

Directions

Heat a large dutch oven or stock pot on med-hi heat. 

Add the olive oil and garlic and saute until fragrant (about 1-2 minutes).

Add the onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery, and potatoes.

Add a little salt, and generous seasoning of pepper and parsley.

Saute for 15 minutes or until onion is becoming translucent.

Add the chicken, diced tomatoes, and stocks.

Season again with lots of pepper and parsley.

Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for 20 minutes, or until carrots and potatoes are tender.

While the soup is simmering, cook pasta according to package directions.

Once soup is ready, stir in the cooked pasta.

Heat a large dutch oven or stock pot on med-hi heat. 

Add the olive oil and garlic and saute until fragrant (about 1-2 minutes).

Add the onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery, and potatoes.

Add a little salt, and generous seasoning of pepper and parsley.

Saute for 15 minutes or until onion is becoming translucent.

Add the chicken, diced tomatoes, and stocks.

Season again with lots of pepper and parsley.

Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for 20 minutes, or until carrots and potatoes are tender.

 While the soup is simmering, cook pasta according to package directions.

Once soup is ready, stir in the cooked pasta.