Rosemary Chicken and Tortellini Soup…

I know I haven’t shared a recipe in quite awhile.  In fact, I was just thinking the other day that I couldn’t believe that I haven’t ever shared my staple chicken soup recipe in the three years that I’ve been blogging.  It’s one of my favorite recipes and our family pretty much eats a version of this this soup at least once a week.  While my basic soup recipe is always the same, sometimes I switch things out and throw in dumplings, rotini, tortellini or rice.  Other times, I don’t add anything except extra chicken for a basic homemade chicken soup that is always so delicious.

Today I thought I would share the basic chicken soup recipe made with tortellini.  Again, since this is a basic staple recipe, you can easily adjust the seasonings/herbs and thickness of the soup by reducing or increasing some of the ingredients.  When I want a thick gooey soup, like chicken and dumplings, I reduce the water by one cup and I cook it longer.  As with any soups, the longer you can allow it to simmer on the stove, the more flavorful the soup is.  However, if I don’t have a lot of time to let the soup simmer beyond the minimum time, this soup is always so delicious and full of flavor.

I prefer to use store bought rotisserie chicken because it’s so easy and  it’s already cooked and it has so much more flavor than a boiled chicken breast.  I especially love it if I can get a lemon pepper or herbed rotisserie chicken because of the added seasonings.  By the way, you can get at least 3-4 cups of shredded chicken from one small rotisserie chicken.

Rosemary Chicken and Tortellini Soup
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Finely Diced Onions
1 Cup Sliced Carrots
3/4 Cup Sliced Celery
1 Tablespoon Diced Fresh Garlic
4 Tablespoons Butter (Real butter makes all of the difference)
2 Tablespoons Flour
3 Cups Chicken Stock (I like to use Swanson’s)
3 Cups Water
2 1/2- 3 Cups Shredded (large bite size pieces) Cooked Rotisserie Chicken (If I’m adding dumplings or tortellini, I only use 2 1/2 Cups)
1 Tablespoon Dried Basil
2 Tablespoons Dill Weed
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Cracked Pepper
1 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary
1 7-9 Ounce bag of Small Cheese Tortellini (dried- not the large fresh tortellini’s that have to be refrigerated)
Shredded Parmesan Cheese to Top Each Serving

Directions:

Begin by sauteing the onions, carrots, celery and one cup of the chicken in the butter on medium heat in a larger soup pot. Saute the vegetables until they begin to get soft and then add the fresh garlic and saute for two minutes. Add the flour and mix in/toss with the butter and vegetables until you get a paste like mixture. Saute the flour mixture (while stirring) for two minutes (until the flour gets a golden color) and then add the chicken stock and water.

Bring the soup to a boil (medium high heat) and then add all seasoning except the salt,pepper and rosemary then reduce heat to medium and maintain a low boil (covered) for at least 30-45 minutes (depending on how much time you have). Add the rest of the chicken and the tortellini and cook at a low boil for another 15-20 minutes.  After 15-20 minutes, add the salt, pepper and fresh rosemary and continue to low boil for another 5-10 minutes.

Fresh rosemary can overpower a soup quickly and I was conservative on the rosemary measurement for this reason. If you want more rosemary, I would taste the soup 5-10 minutes after you have added it to see if you want to add a little more.

Serve by topping bowl with Parmesan cheese.

Like I mentioned, I adjust this recipe all of the time depending on how thick I want the soup and if I want dumplings, pasta or white rice.  This recipe makes the most amazing thick and gooey chicken and dumplings and what I do is reduce the water by one cup and instead of using tortellini, I use Kettle frozen dumplings (sold next to the biscuits in the freezer section).  I break up about 6-8 sheets of the dumplings into bite size pieces and throw it in. Keep in mind, dumplings take at least 30 minutes to completely cook.  I then add 2 cups of Parmesan cheese to the soup pot at the end and toss. I also add more cracked pepper as well and no rosemary.

I can’t wait for you guys to try this recipe!  It’s  our family’s favorite and the flavors are so amazing and it taste like it’s cooked on the stove all day.  If you make it and add any variations, I would love to know!

Have a great week friends!

Cheers!

Cyndy

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