Homemade Chicken Soup With Broken Spaghetti

homemade chicken soup

Fall is officially the start of soup weather and here’s a good one to start you off on, plus you can keep it in rotation throughout the winter. It’s my homemade chicken soup with broken spaghetti pasta.

It’s a simple basic recipe, not a lot of ingredients, but all the ingredients I promise will yield you a most delicious pot of soup!

chicken soup

Can you add other veggies to it? of course you can, and that’s up to you. The key to this flavorful broth is using chicken thighs with the bone and skin on, you need that, it won’t be the same without it.

pot of chicken soup

There’s two steps, first you you need to make the base, the broth, which comes from simmering the chicken bones with lots of aromatics, once done the aromatics will be removed, the chicken will be pulled out, skin and bones removed and the shredded chicken set aside.

You’ll then place all the shredded chicken as well as fresh chopped veggies and herbs back into the both, season for taste and when the veggies are tender it’s all done.

broken spaghetti

We like to make some broken spaghetti on the side and add it into your bowls as needed, so delicious!

chicken soup with spaghetti

Cold a flu season is around the corner and this is just the kind of comfort chicken soup that you’ll be needing.

Homemade Chicken Soup With Broken Spaghetti
 
Soup season has officially started, and this soup is just what you need for comfort during the cold and flu season.
Author:
Ingredients
  • FOR THE. BROTH BASE
  • 4- bone in, skin on chicken thighs
  • 2 -1 quart boxes of low sodium chicken broth, or water but I prefer adding the broth
  • 3 large garlic cloves, cut in half
  • 2 celery stalks, cut in half
  • 1 medium onion, cut into quarters
  • 2 large carrots scrubbed clean and cut in half
  • 2 cheese rinds, either Pecorino or Parmigiano
  • a handful of parsley
  • a pinch of dried thyme and salt and pepper
  • a drizzle of olive oil
  • FOR THE COMPLETED SOUP
  • ½ of a large onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 large celery stalks, chopped
  • 2 large carrots, sliced
  • a handful of parsley
  • ½.- lb. of broken spaghetti, cooked on the side
Instructions
  1. Heat up a large heavy bottom pot, drizzle with olive oil.
  2. Pat dry the chicken thighs and season both sides with salt and pepper.
  3. Place the chicken thighs skin side down and get them golden brown, then flip them over and cook the other side.
  4. Add the 3 cloves of garlic and cook til golden.
  5. Place into the broth, the quartered onion, pieces, carrot and celery halves, cheese rinds, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper.
  6. Get it to a boil and simmer low for a couple of hours, give it enough time for the vegetables and chicken to be tender and where you can see the collagen broken down to a gelatine and producing a delicious bone broth, taste for seasoning.
  7. Remove the chicken thighs and let them cool down, then scoop out and discard all the large pieces of veggies, parsley and the cheese rinds.
  8. Pull the skin and bones off the chicken and shred the chicken, then place it back into the flavorful broth along with all your freshly chopped veggies and herbs..
  9. Simmer until your veggies are tender but not mushy.
  10. Serve with your pre-cooked broken spaghetti into your bowls and some sprinkling of grated cheese.
  11. Enjoy!

 

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Zucchini Scarpaccia With Corn And Pecorino

zucchini and onion tart

Tis the season of zucchini and the trend right now seems to be zucchini scarpaccia. It’s basically a zucchini tart where the zucchini is the star, there are tons of  variations all over the internet right now.

It’s like a savory zucchini flatbread, baked until it forms a crunchy, golden brown top, it’s very delicious!

sauteed zucchini and onions

I changed mine up a little by adding to the zucchini and onion mixture, an ear of shucked. corn and in the batter some sharp, grated pecorino.

Several recipes say to add cornmeal to the batter, I used dry polenta.

zucchini scarpaccia

Grab a slice and have it as an appetizer, a side dish, a snack or a light main course served with a salad, like I did recently for dinner.

crispy zucchini scarpaccia

A perfect summer dish especially while zucchini is in an abundance right now.

scarpaccia slice

Easy to make, virtually a one pan meal and very soul satisfying!

Zucchini Scarpaccia With Corn And Pecorino
 
Grab. your garden zucchini and make this savory zucchini flatbread called scarpaccia.
Author:
Ingredients
  • 3 zucchini, medium size sliced into thin rounds
  • 1 white or red onion, medium size sliced
  • 1 ear of fresh corn, shucked
  • 1 large garlic clove, grated
  • basil
  • olive oil
  • FOR THE BATTER
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1¼ cup water
  • ⅓ cup polenta or corn meal
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • ⅓ cup of pecorino romano
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • ( batter should be loose enough to spread, adjust with a little more water if needed)
Instructions
  1. Saute the zucchini and onion slices in a saute pan, along with the garlic for about 15 minutes until most of the moisture is gone.
  2. Let it cool down, now mix up the batter.
  3. To a bowl add the flour, water, pecorino cheese, polenta or cornmeal, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt. and pepper to taste, you could also add chopped basil or leave the basil for garnish.
  4. Generously olive oil a quarter inch rimmed sheet pan, or if you have a 9 x. 13 non stick pan, all the better.
  5. Fold in the zucchini, onion and corn mixture to the batter then spread it out evenly over the pan.
  6. Lightly sprinkle the top with a little polenta, grated pecorino and a drizzle of olive oil.
  7. Bake at 400. til golden and crunchy on top, time may vary according to oven temps. 35-45 minutes or so.
  8. Garnish with basil.
  9. Cool down and slice!

 

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Summer Stuffed Shells With Zucchini And Corn

veggie stuffed shells

Looking for a lighter, summer take on stuffed shells? This summer dish consists of creamy ricotta, a little burrata, pecorino, with a hint of garlic and lemon zest and then fresh summer corn and zucchini sautéed and tossed into the mix.

It has a light tomato cream sauce that goes really well with all the fresh flavors.

stuffed shells

Serve this as a side or as a main course with a tossed salad. It was the first time I ever made these, as I always make stuffed shells the traditional way.

I fed them to a few family members to see what they thought and they all loved them, me included, so I decided it was worthy to share the recipe here in a blog post.

A light easy meal you can make mid week!

a pan of stuffed shells

You’ll want to garnish the top with more of the sautéed zucchini and corn, topped off with fresh basil from the garden.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Summer Stuffed Shells With Zucchini And Corn
 
A lighter take on stuffed shells with corn and zucchini tossed into the creamy ricotta mix. Perfect for summer eating!
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 -12 oz. box of jumbo shells
  • 2 cups whole milk ricotta, drained well
  • 4 oz. hand shredded burrata
  • ¾ cup of grated pecorino or Parmigiano Reggiano
  • 2 medium zucchini, diced
  • 1- ½ cups of fresh corn kernels or frozen thawed
  • 2 small garlic cloves grated or 1 large
  • 1 egg
  • the zest of one lemon
  • 4 oz. of shredded mozzarella
  • basil
  • olive oil
  • 1 28 oz can of whole San Marzano tomatoes, or homemade marinara or a high quality store bought marinara
  • heavy cream
Instructions
  1. Make a quick marinara by coating a heavy sauce pan with olive oil, warm up a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, add the canned tomatoes squishing them til smooth but with some chunks.
  2. Add a teaspoon of salt and fresh basil simmer for 20 minutes or so. When finished pour in some heavy cream, start with ¼ cup and see if that's good for you, if not, add a little more.
  3. Quick saute the chopped zucchini and corn together for a few minutes in a little olive oil, set aside.
  4. Boil shells according to directions on the box, the lesser time for further baking, then drain and cool down with cool water.
  5. Mix up the filling in a bowl with the ricotta, burrata, the egg, grated cheese, garlic, lemon zest, chopped basil, salt and pepper to taste, but not the shredded mozzarella.
  6. Fold in the cooled down sauteed zucchini and corn, reserve some to sprinkle on top.
  7. Grease the bottom of a casserole dish with olive oil, then spread a layer of the tomato cream sauce on the bottom.
  8. Stuff your shells and place them single layer on top of sauce.
  9. Spoon more sauce on each shell but don't drown them with sauce.
  10. Sprinkle the grated mozzarella cheese all around, along with more pecorino or Parmigiano and the reserved sauteed corn and zucchini.
  11. Drizzle the top with olive oil and bake uncovered in a 350 oven for 25 minutes, garnish with fresh basil.
  12. To serve spread some sauce on the bottom of the dinner plate, add the shells and topped them off with more warmed sauce.
  13. Enjoy!

 

 

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