Lenny is gone this week. Instead of cooking lots of “little” meals, I decided to work on a soup recipe, that ended up feeding a small army. History repeating it’s self, like a few weeks ago when I made mac and cheese. This soup recipe is GREAT, but after having for four nights in a row, I am ready for a burger. And make it a double. No, really this recipe rocks, just plan on serving with another mouth or two. OY!
This soup was inspired by a couple recipes. One I saw in a Food Network magazine and the other from Pinch of Yum. Let’s start with the Food Network; they posted a recipe for a chicken pot pie soup recipe. It looked amazing, but, I liked the idea of a thinner based soup, without a heavy crust. There were a few things with the recipe that I was not so hip on, such as using water along with stock, butter and not much seasoning. So … I changed that. Then over at Pinch of Yum, they shared an easy peasy recipe for Cream of Chicken Soup, which I have not purchased in years, but do occasionally like to use in casseroles (will be using their idea moving forward). What did I do, I incorporated a little of each and added my own twist.
I loaded up this soup recipe with sauteed chicken breast, lots of veggies, a heavy hand of minced fresh sage and lots of chicken stock. No butter, just good for you olive oil. Instead of baking a crust for the topping, I made giant croutons out of puff pastry. I love working with puff pastry, but, I am going to admit something, I buy it! I have toyed with the idea of making it, but that will have to wait for another time. Normally, I try to make my soups cream free since we are watching Lenny’s cholesterol, since he was traveling I splurged and used some half and half. Result? Hearty, creamy and comfortable. I am thinking this is going to be a regular soup during the chilly winter months!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 lb chicken breast, bone and skinned removed
- 1 small yellow onion, minced
- 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, scrubbed clean, and roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely minced
- 2 cups frozen peans
- 1/2 cup ap flour
- 1 russet, peeled and cut into small chunks
- 5 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 2/3 cup half and half
- puff pastry, thaw according to package directions
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven.
- Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
- Season with salt and pepper. Add to the dutch oven.
- Over medium heat, cook the chicken for 6 minutes, stirring very often.
- Remove the chicken and place in a mixing bowl.
- Add the onion the dutch oven, stir and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the carrots, potato and celery, stir and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and sage; stir.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the flour over the veggie mixture.
- Stir to remove any flour lumps.
- Add the chicken back to the dutch oven; stir.
- Add the stock, stir and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes.
- According to the directions of the puff pastry you purchased, preheat the oven.
- Roll out the dough and cut out circles that will fit into the serving bowls you will be using.
- Bake according to the direction on the package.
- Remove from the oven and set aside.
- In a small jar with a lid, add the remaining 1/4 cup flour and the half and half.
- Shake well to combine.
- Add to the soup mixture in the dutch oven.
- Stir and simmer over very low heat for 10 minutes.
- You will need to continue stirring every so often, so that it does not stick to the pan.
- Add the frozen peas.
- Stir, and let cook for 2 minutes.
- Ladle the soup into the bowls.
- Top with a cooked puff pastry circle.
- Serve.
- Eat.
She cooks. He devours. Culinary capers in an urban kitchen in West Oakland. Other half of Chez Us can be found @laudalino on Twitter. 
This baby is right up my alley, and since I love leftovers, I’m okay with having it 4 nights in a row.
This is probably my favorite comfort food. I just made some last week too, from Simply Scratch’s recipe. SO GOOD. Wish there was some more in my fridge now…. I’m hunggrryyy.
I have been craving something like this! (and I have whipping cream in the fridge and puff pastry in freezer!) I think my kids are gonna love this. Thank you!
My kind of comfort food.
Hi, thanks for sharing this recipe. I made it tonight, and it was simply delicious. I used nonfat milk instead of cream, and replaced 1.5c of the chicken broth with veggie broth, since this is what I had on hand, but it was still quite delicious. Also added one squeeze of lemon to add some brightness.
Thank you for the delicious recipe.