Tonight was the perfect night for soup and not just any soup, my mom's soup, which is the best. Growing up, Monday nights we always had soup up my grandmother's house even if it were 90 degrees outside, it was always soup on Mondays! My mother learned her soup recipe from my grandma Alda and when I say soup, I'm not talking chicken noodle. What soup is for us, is a delicious homemade broth and some kind of small pasta like tubatini or acini de pepe. At Christmas time, when I was little we used to always have this broth with homemade tortellini. Tonight, my mom put in one of my favorite little pastas, which is Stelle or star shaped pasta. It hit the spot on this cool, rainy night and I wanted to share with you our family soup recipe.
In a large pot combine:
1 lg can plum tomatoes, including the juice
2 chicken breasts with the bone and skin
6 peeled carrots, left whole
3 celery stalks, left whole
1 onion, peeled and dotted with whole cloves all around (our secret)
water to fill the pan
Put on the stove for at least 3 hours. Be sure the broth does not boil, or it will get cloudy. You just want it to simmer. Add a touch of kosher salt at the beginning. After 3 hours, taste the broth to see if it needs more seasoning. When the broth is done, cool to room temp and strain through a fine sieve (you can either break apart chicken and out in the soup or use for chicken salad). Be sure to take out the carrots and add them back to the broth, we leave them whole, but you can cut them if you choose. This broth can be used for not only soup, but also as the base for a sauce or to build a beautiful risotto. Hope you a enjoy.
ooo...this looks so interesting and, dare I say it--nutritional! Seems like a nice delicate soup for a chilly eve. I feel cozy just reading about it. Definitely gonna try this one Jen, thanks for sharing your family secret! :)
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