Winter Soup....

Hello loves! Its been quite a while now! I've been hibernating if you will. I hope everyone has been having a wonderful 2011!! I unfortunately got very sick right after New Years and am only just now getting better! My late great Aunt used to make this amazing chicken soup for the winter. My mom was the only one who was taught to create this amazing dish and whenever I'm sick it's all I crave. Since I'm all grown up now and have to fend for myself when I'm sick (even though my Mom ALWAYS offers to come all the way to Brooklyn to take care of me, love her!) I asked her to teach me how to make it recently and I have to say, I did a pretty good job of recreating this soup! Even my boyfriend who hates left overs was eating it for days! It's the perfect cure for those winter sniffles and freezing cold nights.

So I wanted to share this recipe with you because It's a special one and evokes feelings of comfort, and family, and hopefully if any of you try this recipe and are far from home, you'll totally get what I mean....

Toni's (my aunt) Special Chicken soup

Ingredients:

• 1 package "soup starter" (should come with carrots, onion, celery etc...)
• 3-4 large size chicken breasts skinned but on the bone.
• 1 package Sazon seasoning (I used the no salt version)
• Oregano (generous sprinkles)
• Parsley flakes (generous sprinkles)
• Salt (to taste)
• 1 small can of tomato sauce
• Garlic Powder (to taste)
• 2 Garlic Cloves thinly sliced
• Salt (to taste)
• 1/2 lb Acini de Pepe Pasta (you can use a little less if you don't have much broth because this will really soak it up)

Directions:

Take all the ingredients and place them in a very large pot filled with water. Don't cut the chicken off the bones but trim off the skin and fat and don't cut the veggies just leave them whole the way the are, even the onion.

Boil everything for 1 1/2 hrs.

Turn the stove off, let it cool down a bit and then take out all the veggies and chicken. Put the chicken and carrots aside. Put the rest of the veggies in a blender with about 1 cup of the broth from the pot. Blend until nice and creamy. Pour the mixture into the pot of broth. In another pot, boil the Acini De Pepe pasta for about 5 -8 min (follow the box instructions). Meanwhile cut the carrots and shred the chicken off the bone and put it back in the pot with the broth (sans bones). Add the drained Acini De Pepe Pasta to the pot and boil everything together for 5-8 more minutes (At this point I did a lot of tasting and testing to see if I needed any more seasonings, I added some more salt and some garlic powder, see what works for you.) Serve with sprinkled Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Hope you all have a happy and warm winter!