Chicken Tortellini Soup with Spinach

Chicken Tortellini Soup with Spinach

I bought a 4 lb package of split chicken and decided to have some fun. The breast was 99¢ per pound so I couldn't resist. First thing I did was to roast it off.  A simple salt and pepper was applied and then it was cook at 400° for 45 minutes.

Funny thing happened at the end of cooking though.

I went to pull the chicken from the oven and the heating element was glowing white in a spot - like a welder. I turned it off immediately, but that small, bright-as-the-sun spot kept burning and moving along the orange-glowing element. As it cooled the spot eventually went out. When it was all said and done (3 or 4 minutes) I realized I had just witnessed my oven fry! I didn't panic becuase it was inside the oven so it was contained. And, Im really glad the chicken was finished cooking before it totally blew.

My only real worry was how I was gonna finish the buffalo chicken spring rolls I was making later in the evening. Fer F**ks sake, I had been planning on those all week. (more on that in another post)

It was Friday evening at 4:30, there was no way I could get that fixed for the weekend — or so I thought.

I went to the building management and within an hour a maintenance guy was there with a new element. By 6:30 I was good to go. I was really impressed by how quick it was taken care of. That has been the case with almost everything here at my new place, when I ask for issues to be looked at, they really have been prompt with maintenance.

That said - Later that night I shredded and divided the chicken. Half for the spring rolls, and half for a yummy batch of soup.

I made this soup because of the cool weather that had rolled in, but also because I wanted to clear out some pantry and freezer space. That's why I choose the tortellini and spinach, it was time to get rid of them - and I must say, they did make for a yummy bowl of soup!

Eat well, cook often ...

CHICKEN TORTELLINI SOUP WITH SPINACH
45 minutes, serves 4
3 C chicken, roasted, shredded
1 C onion, diced
1 C green pepper, diced
1 C celery, diced
2 Tbs garlic, minced
2 tsp Italian seasonings
4 C chicken broth
1 8 oz pkg four cheese tri-color tortellini pasta
1 10 pkg frozen spinach, thawed, drained

In a soup pot over medium heat saute onion, green pepper and celery in a little olive oil until soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic and Italian seasonings, cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add chicken, tortellini and spinach, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Portion into bowls and serve.

Spinach and Cheese Tortellini Soup

Printable Version

Some recipes have a great story. One in particular is tortellini, a stuffed pasta. It is believed to have originated in the Bologna region of Italy around the 12th century. There are several versions of its mythical beginning, but the story is that the gods Venus, Mars and Bacchus came to earth to intervene in a war between the towns of Bologna and Modena. The three decided to stay at an Inn for the night. The next morning the innkeeper somehow caught a glimpse of Venus’s navel and was so spellbound that he immediately went to the kitchen and created the navel-sized tortellini in its image.

Thankfully, I have never looked at a bowl of tortellini and thought I was staring at a cup full of goddess navels. I do however think that it’s one of the most delicious pastas to eat, and if prepared right, can almost be a religious experience.

For this recipe, I make a cheese tortellini and spinach soup and I dedicate it to the many different belly buttons around the world.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I love researching the recipes I create, and what I found with this one is the reason why. Tortellini inspired by the navel of a goddess – that’s gold. I do think it’s a little gross though, obviously the person who spun this tale had some sort of belly button fetish. Probably some weird response to the sexual repression of the dark ages of Europe. Personally, I have never thought twice about navels. Well, that’s not true, every once in a while I see a weird outie navel and get slightly creeped out, but beyond that, it’s not something I think about.

Until now.

I don’t think I’ll be able to eat tortellini without recalling this story. It won’t deter me from eating the pasta – I will just consume it with a little nostalgia from now on.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Serves 4 to 6; 40 minutes
1 C Onion diced
1 Tbs Garlic minced
1 C Carrot diced
1 C Celery diced
4 C Chicken broth
1 Tbs Italian seasoning
1 box Spinach frozen (9 oz)
1 lb Cheese tortellini frozen

Prep spinach and tortellini
In a microwave on high, cook spinach 5 to 6 minutes, then drain. Vent package before cooking. Bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil and add frozen tortellini return to boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then drain.

Sauté vegetables
In a soup pot over medium heat, sauté Onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add celery and onion, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until vegetables are soft, 5 to 6 minutes more.

Make soup, serve
Add spinach, tortellini, Italian seasoning and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Spoon into a bowl and serve.

The Great Pumpkin Feast

I have a theory about pumpkins and Halloween. Back in the old days, when people subsisted on the land, families lived on what was growing on the farm. That meant October was filled with a steady diet of pumpkin and other winter squash. If a hard-working farmer was forced to eat pumpkin every night for a month, I can see why he might take great pleasure in plunging a butcher knife into one and carving it into a spooky decoration to scare small children for Halloween.

Printable version

For this recipe, roasted pumpkin is the star of a feast featuring a spicy soup and flat bread which includes spinach and ricotta cheese. The soup is smokey with cumin. The heat is in the seeds that are sprinkled on just before eating. I wasn’t thrilled with this flat bread when I first tasted it. But, other than spaghetti squash, I have never really liked any of the winter squash varieties.

It was when I witnessed my niece slurp chunks of pumpkin off her slice – like a shop vac picking up gravel – that I decided to use it. She and my Mom loved it. If you like pumpkin, you’ll like this. I call this flat bread and not pizza because it contains no sauce and pizza crust was just the easiest option to deliver the toppings. I could have used a number of different breads to the same effect. (For the newspaper version of the column I did call it a pizza.)

BEHIND THIS BITE

While I was making a recipe for spaghetti squash the week before last, I ate it 4 days in a row. I was really tired of it to say the least. My opening thought about pumpkins and Halloween and taking pleasure in carving a pumpkin is what popped into my head. I wrote it down, like I do when any peculiar thought comes to me, something I started doing while I was a working stand up comic. When I started to think about what I was going to make for this week, I decided to incorporate pumpkin. I created this pumpkin feast because of a quirky paragraph I wrote the week before. Ironically it was inspired by another member of the winter squash family. Sounds crazy but here we are.

I really had never made anything with pumpkin before.

I started by roasting it al dente. I knew that I would be applying heat again to it, so I didn't want it to be complete mush when I pulled it from the oven. The first batch I roasted, I seasoned the pumpkin with different spices. I realized then that pumpkin itself is an acquired taste and, unlike beer, I hadn't really acquired a taste for it. The spices didn't help. The second batch I seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper and went from there.

For the soup, I was inspired by potato-leek soup. I replaced the potato with pumpkin. I start with the smokey flavor of bacon and end with the compliment of cumin. The seeds feature smokey chipotle and contain the zing for the dish. If I made this again, I would serve it as a shot with the seeds going on right before it is consumed. I could see this as a gourmet appetizer for a fall party.

For the flat bread, I choose to compliment the rich and creamy flavor of pumpkin with ricotta cheese and spinach - and it worked. As I mention in the introduction, I just don't care for the flavor of pumpkin. The soup features bolder flavors that mask it, the flat bread is all about pumpkin. I really thought my efforts were a bust until other family members – who happen to love pumpkin – couldn't get enough of it. The recipe wasn't bad, it was my dislike of pumpkin that soiled it. I rarely eat pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and have only ever enjoyed the seeds. The soup I would make again for myself, but I'll never crave the flatbread. I would make it for my family but, if I were to make it for myself, I would replace the pumpkin with artichoke and shower it with some fresh grated ... oh wait, that's for another post.

Eat well, cook often ...