For nine years, my wife and I dedicated our Sundays between mid-December and mid-March to making at least eight gallons of some kind of soup for the homeless folks who spent evenings at the YSS Winter Freeze Shelter.
It was usually 14 or 15 soups per season, and we would prepare the traditional soups like beef and chicken noodle, but every once in a while we would create something unique. Our best example is our Spinach-Chicken-Tortellini Soup, an offering that can be a meal on its own or can be served in smaller portions as an appetizer.
The spinach and seasoned chicken (I marinate mine the night before) add flavor, but I choose to season this soup with hints of cajun and barbecue mixes because it adds to the surprising flavor.
To prepare three gallons, here are the ingredients and the instructions:
Ingredients:
- One whole chicken
- Three pounds of chicken breast
- Stalk of celery
- Bag of whole carrots
- Two white onions
- One pound of spinach
- One pound of cheese tortellini
- Your favorite cajun seasoning
- Your favorite barbecue sauce
Instructions:
- Boil and simmer one whole chicken in three gallons of water along with celery, chopped carrots and chopped onion to make the stock for the soup.
- Once finished, remove what’s left of the chicken, peal the meat from the skeleton, and add back it to the broth along with the vegetables.
- Add to the broth the cajun seasoning and barbecue sauce by taste.
- Season the chicken breast and roast at 350 degrees until it reaches 165 degrees in its middle; once rested for five minutes, chop the chicken and add to the simmering pot.
- Chop additional celery, carrots, and onion and add.
- After an hour-long simmer, add the spinach and stir.
- About 15 minutes later, add the ravoli and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy.
