Snow and Soup!!

Happy Wednesday!  It's been snowing here in the North East but thankfully they are only calling for 2 to 3 inches.  Snow storms like that are really just a nuisance here in New Jersey.  Not quite the kind of storm that needs a milk and bread run!!

The weather people are calling for a possible clipper system this weekend, which is forecasted to dump a lot more snow, anywhere from 6" to 12" but since it's only Wednesday, so much could change before then.  So today, I thought I would share with you my favorite soup from The Pioneer Woman, her Italian Chicken Soup.  See her recipe here.

 

I cooked the chicken in broth for a while, then added in oregano.  Ree sautes hers in olive oil  but I usually omit that step, strictly because I am too lazy...

I keep a variety of red and green peppers in the freezer at all times.  I buy a bunch of them, wash 'em, chop 'em up and freeze 'em.  It means they never go mushy sitting on my counter waiting to be used, because as I mentioned before....I'm lazy.  The beauty of these babies is you do not have to parboil them before freezing. Saute them with a jalapeno (I only use one because I don't do spicy), dice up some whole tomatoes (from a can but keep the juice).    

Cook up your pasta.  Ree uses Ditalini.  I usually do, too, but the store didn't have them (on sale) when I went grocery shopping, so I decided to use this cute little shell pasta.  Shredding chicken is a big pain in the butt, but you have to do it for this soup.  I guess you could use a rottiserie (how do you even spell that?) chicken but you would still have to shred it......

So, the picture on the left is the soup without the cream.....the soup on the right is the soup WITH the cream.  Ree uses heavy cream I think, I use half and half.  It doesn't really alter the flavor or at least I don't think it does.  As much as we eat this soup, it's better to make it a little less fattening!!  Then we can have cake for dessert!

Here is the final product!!!  In the bowl, sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  As I was eating it, I noticed that it tasted a little different but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was.   So, I checked the recipe.....jalapeno?  Check.  Peppers?  Check.  Celery?  Check.....Onion?  DAMN!  I forgot the onion!! My family didn't notice but I did.  It was still really good so if you have issues with onions, you could make this and omit it and it would still be yummy.  This soup is a little time consuming so I only make it on the weekends!!  It always goes over well in my house, except with my daughter, she won't eat any soup but Ramen.....go figure.  If you make it or if you have made it, leave a comment below and let me know what you think!   And thanks to Ree Drummond for the yummiest soup I have ever made!  Thanks for hanging with me this afternoon!

Stay safe and if you're in the northeast - WARM!