Italian Chicken Minestrone Food

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.

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.

QUICKIE CHICKEN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Start the soup: Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil, scallions, carrots, garlic and mushrooms and season with salt and the oregano. Cook over medium high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the vegetables become tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes, bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes so the tomatoes lose their raw taste.
• Cook the chicken and pasta: Season the chicken breasts with salt on all sides. Lower the heat and add the chicken breasts and elbow macaroni. Simmer until the pasta cooks and the chicken breasts are cooked through and register 160 degrees F on a meat thermometer, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Finish: Turn off the heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and transfer to a flat surface. Put a fork in each piece of chicken to hold it in place and avoid touching the hot meat with your hands as you cut. Slice the chicken into small pieces and add it back into the soup. Allow the soup to "stand" on the stove for 5 minutes before serving. Taste for seasoning. Stir in the basil and cheese.

MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Heat oil and butter in large pan, add onions, cook over medium heat until onions are pale golden brown. Add carrots, cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Repeat this procedure with the potatoes, then the celery, zucchini, beans and cabbage.
• Stir in water, crumbled stock cubes and undrained, mashed tomatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until soup is thick.
• During last 15 minutes of cooking, stir in cannellini beans.
• Season with salt and pepper. If desired, grated parmesan cheese can be stirred into the soup before serving or served separately with the soup.

CHICKEN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Prepare soup mix according to package directions, adding zucchini and mushrooms. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook chicken in oil for 10-12 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir into soup. , For croutons, in a large bowl, combine butter and parsley. Add bread cubes and toss to coat. Arrange in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet. , Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400° for 7-8 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Serve with soup.

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 CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Defat the sausage- Place the sausages in a sauce pan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and let boil for 5 minutes. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, chop into small dice.
• Add the oil to a large pot, and heat over a medium flame until the oil is warm and fragrant. Add the onion, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 1-2 minutes.
• Add the chicken and sausage, and continue to cook, until the chicken is no longer pink in the center.
• Add the carrots, celery, stock, beans, tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme and remaining salt. Cover, and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Add the pasta, simmer another 8-10 minutes, until the pasta is al dente.
• To serve, ladle into warm soup bowls, and top with a tablespoon of pesto (if using).

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.