Turkey minestrone soup

I had such a big crowd for Thanksgiving, that I didn’t have much turkey left, from the twenty pound turkey I served. I had about enough left for one hearty turkey sandwich, and this soup. Although the turkey looked like it was sliced clean, there’s still a lot of meat on the bones, plenty for a soup like this.

This is a soup for when you can have it on the stove all day. I made it on Saturday, and finished it off yesterday. If you still have a turkey carcass left, you should make some soup. If you don’t have time until the weekend, put it in the freezer until then. 

I also had a bunch of carrots, celery and cherry tomatoes leftover from a vegetable tray. They all got used up here. This turned out great. Here’s how I made it.

Stock

1  turkey carcass

About two gallons of water

Adobo seasoning

1/2 cup of onion flakes

2 bay leaves

2 stalks of celery, broken

2 large onions, chopped

1-1/2 cups of chopped celery

1-1/2 cups of chopped carrots

1 cup of chopped cherry tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste (or 2 cups of leftover pasta sauce)

1/2 tsp. basil

1-1/2 tsp. thyme

1 chunk of cheese rind (from Italian Parmesan)

15 oz. can of great northern beans

2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1-/2 cups of seashell pasta

Lots of grated Italian Parmesan cheese

Preparation

The first step in making this soup, is to make the stock. I started mine at 8:00 in the morning. Place the turkey carcass into a very large stock pot. I broke mine in half, so it would fit. Add a lot of water. I didn’t measure, but it was at least two gallons. You want to cover the bones completely. Next add the onion flakes, celery stalks, a sprinkle of adobo seasoning, and the bay leaves. Bring that to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer gently, for about four hours.

Now it’s time to make the soup. Grab a large soup pot, set it in the sink, and put a colander over it. Carefully pour the stock into the colander. You may have more stock than you need. Pour the extra into a bowl and freeze it. Once the bones have drained, set the colander over the empty stock pot to cool, and then set the soup pot ,with the broth, on the stove. Bring that to a boil.

Now, adding the vegetables may be difficult, because the soup pot might get full before they are all in. No worries. This is going to cook for another four or five hours. I added half of the chopped onions, celery and carrots, and then let that boil for an hour. While that is going on, pick all of the meat off the bones. Even little bones will still have some meat attached. I got about three cups of turkey meat. Add that to the soup, and eventually the rest of the onion, celery and carrots, along with the cherry tomatoes.

After another hour, stir in the tomato paste or pasta sauce, and then add the thyme, basil, and cheese rind. Add the can of beans as well. After about four hours, taste and adjust for salt and pepper. I added a good sprinkle of adobo seasoning. 

About an hour before serving, add the pasta and the Worcestershire sauce. Let that simmer for the final hour, taste and adjust for salt, and serve.

Serving

Add about a quarter cup of grated Italian Parmesan cheese on each bowl of soup and stir it in. Have plenty of Tabasco on the table. Saturday, this soup was served along with a pasta made from smoked pork. We also had plenty of homemade bread and lots of wine. It was a  great dinner!