Chicken Pastina Soup
A hearty Italian American Soup of chicken and pasta
Ingredients
- 3 Each Chicken Thighs About a pound of legs.
- 3 Each Chicken Legs About a pound of thighs.
- 1 Cup Vegetable Trimmings Or use 1/3 Cup each of celery, carrot & onion can replace the vegetable trimmings.
- 1½ Cup Diced Celery
- 1½ Cup Diced Carrot
- 1½ Cup Diced Onion
- ½ Cup Pastina
- 5 Quarts Water Divided
- ¼ Cup Grated Italian Style Cheese Parmesan, Romano,or a blend of your favorite Italian Style grated cheese .
- 3 Tsp Salt Divided
- ¼ Tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Each Bay Leaf, Clove, Garlic Clove
- 6 Each Pepper Corn
- 1 Tsp Chopped Parsley
- ¼ Tsp Thyme
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice Optional
- 2 Tbsp Butter Optional
Instructions
Preparation
- Make a broth by combining the chicken, 4 quarts of water, and 2 teaspoons of the salt in a tall pot. Bring it to boil then lower the heat & simmer for 30 minutes.
- While the broth is simmering, in another pot, add a teaspoon of salt to one quart of water and bring to boil. Sprinkle in the pastina and cook for 5 minutes.
- Drain, rinse and reserve the pastina discarding the water.
- After 30 minutes of simmering, remove the chicken & when cool enough to handle, separate the skin and bones from the chicken meat. Break or cut the chicken meat into bite sized pieces and set it aside. Return the skin and bones to the broth and return to simmer for 45 more minutes.
- Add the vegetable trimmings, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorn clove and garlic to the broth and return to simmer for 15 more minutes.
- Strain the both, reserving the liquid & discarding the cooked skin, bones spices and vegetables.
- Skim some of the chicken fat from the top of the stock and use it to saute the diced celery, carrot & onion in a tall pot.
- When the onions turn translucent pour in the stock and return to a simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add in the chicken and return to boil then add in the cooked pastina, adjust salt and pepper as needed, add lemon juice butter if you are using it and serve with a sprinkling of grated cheese.
Notes
Note that vegetable trimmings are the otherwise unused ends of celery, carrot and onion that Chef Hacker collects and freezes when cutting those vegetables for various dishes. They are great to flavor broth and stock such as in this dish. They can also be stuffed inside the breast cavity of chicken or turkey roasts where they add complexity of flavor and help the roast retain moisture. Just be sure to remove and discard the trimmings prior to serving the dish.