Rotisserie Chicken Soup

This soup was inspired by a soup dear sister brought home from Carrabba's. I only had a bite or two of Mama Mandola’s Sicilian Chicken Soup and I knew I wanted to re-create it. It almost tasted like it started with a roux and it had a slow roasted chicken flavor in my humble opinion. When I looked for a copycat recipe none of the recipes sounded like the soup I had tried. So I went it alone and tried to develop my own recipe. I knew I wanted to use a roasted chicken. I thought about roasting my own and making a bone stock (maybe next time), but I decided to take a short cut. I bought a rotisserie chicken and chicken stock. This makes the soup so fast and easy to prepare. Got to love that! I decided to use a little flour to thicken the soup. I was going for the roux flavor I tasted in Carrabba's soup. All in all, I think it was a great success! It is loaded with carrots, onions and celery like many chicken soup recipes. But this one has a rich brown or roasted flavor. I used Herbs de Provence and parsley to season it as well. It is so yummy! I did have to use elbow pasta instead of ditalini like in my inspiration soup. I could not find the ditalini at my store, maybe next time I make this soup. There will definitely be a next time real soon. This maybe my new favorite chicken soup.

Rotisserie Chicken Soup

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 small carrots, cut into 1/2 inch slices or cubes

3 celery ribs, cut into 1/2 inch slices or cubes

1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch dice

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. Herbs de Provence (without lavender)

1 bay leaf

2 quarts chicken stock

1 cup dried small elbow macaroni

2 cups shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken

3/4 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 handful parsley, finely chopped

Directions

Place a large pot of water to boil.

Place another soup pot over medium heat and add olive oil. Add the onion, carrots, celery and bell pepper. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Stir in garlic, tomato paste and flour. Continue to stir and cook until the flour and tomato paste brown a little. Add Herbs de Provence, bay leaf and chicken stock; bring the liquid to a boil. Fold in the chicken, and season with salt, black and red pepper. Continue to simmer on low for 18 minutes while you cook the pasta.

Add elbow macaroni to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. Drain pasta and add to the soup pot. Add chopped parsley and taste for seasoning. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Remove from heat and serve.

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