While I am not a huge fan of pasta, my family feels otherwise, so I suppose it was time to make a pasta dish again. And it is not even gluten free brown rice pasta! It is the real thing. Personally, I think it is just as delicious without any noodles, so go ahead ans skip them if you like.
Chicken Tomato Soup with Spinach & Orzo
- 2 large chicken breast
- 44 oz canned tomatoes
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 3 tablespoon pesto
- 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers
- 2 oz fresh spinach leaves
- 1 head celery sliced
- 3 cups water
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup uncooked orzo pasta
- Salt to taste
Begin browning celery, onion and garlic in a pan. Dice your raw chicken into bite sized pieces and add it to the pan as soon as the celery is cooked through and getting softer. While that is going, get out your big stock pot. If you have a blender, puree your tomatoes. Or, just puree them right in the pot with an immersion blender. Add them, with the juice, to your stock pot with your oregano, pesto, pepper flakes, vinegar, and water.
(Did you know you can make pesto from the pesky garlic mustard growing in your yard? It may be an invasive weed, but it is a tasty one.)
Bring to a simmer. Add your celery and chicken mixture when the chicken is about half way cooked through. Allow to simmer on low for about 45 minutes. Be sure to stir often. Add your salt to taste, then your orzo pasta. Your noodles should only need about 15 minutes to cook through since orzo is so small. At the very end, add chopped spinach and stir it in. You can save a bit of spinach for a garnish if you like.
Hi there, this recipe looks great but I don’t like balsamic vinegar. Do you hAve any replacement suggestions?
You could use another vinegar, or just some lemon juice. You just want a bit of acid really.