Minestrone soup with chicken

Saturday was a rainy day. I had wanted to unload my truck and get it cleaned up, but the rain put a damper on that. So, instead, I made soup. I made a stock from bones in the freezer, but the beans were canned. The chicken carcass I had in the freezer had lots of meat left on it. I used that to make the stock, and then cut the meat off the bones, and added that to the soup.

That night, my neighbors came over for dinner. I got pretty favorable reviews on this minestrone. It went real well with the lamb I roasted. Here is how I made the minestrone. 

1 meaty chicken carcass from roast chicken

Water

1/4 cup of onion flakes

3 bay leaves

4 stalks of celery, broken

1/2 tsp. adobo seasoning

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chicken bullion

Olive oil

1 large carrot, cubed

3 stalks of celery, sliced

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 serrano pepper, chopped

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. smoked paprika

15 oz. can of pinto beans

1 pound can of Blue Runner red beans

10 oz. can of RoTel tomatoes

1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables

Worcestershire sauce

Maggi seasoning

4 small branches of fresh rosemary

1 cup of small pasta shells

Preparation

For the stock, place the chicken carcass in a stock pot, and add enough water to completely cover the bones. Add the onion flakes, the broken celery, bay leaves, adobo seasoning, cumin, and the chicken bullion. Bring that to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for one hour.

Strain the stock. Remove all the meat from the bones, chop that and set aside. Heat a large soup pot and add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the carrots, onion, sliced celery, garlic and serrano pepper. Stir and let that sweat down. Sprinkle on the thyme, oregano and smoked paprika. Once the onions have softened, add the chopped chicken. Let that gently cook for about five minutes and add the stock.

Bring the soup to a boil, and let it simmer uncovered, for about a half hour, to reduce the volume. Add the pinto beans, and then stir in the Blue Runner red beans. Stir well, and let that simmer for another half hour. Add the RoTel tomatoes, the mixed vegetables, a few dashes of the Worcestershire sauce, and a few more dashes of the Maggi seasoning. Simmer for another half hour, and add the rosemary branches and the pasta.  Simmer for a final half hour, but stir often, and keep the heat low, to avoid scorching. Taste and adjust the minestrone for salt, using adobo seasoning.

Serving

Serve big bowls of this soup, with some grated Parmesan cheese. We also had medium rare roast lamb, roasted potatoes, gravy, fresh homemade bread and lots of butter. A hearty Zinfandel would be best with this.