Thursdays with Kermit: Cannellini, Pasta and Chicken Soup

Funny how I’ve changed over the years.

I used to really scoff at soup unless it was tomato, the hour was noon, and there was a grilled cheese sandwich on a nearby plate. I just didn’t have time for soup. I am a pretty high-energy person and always moving and soup, well, it requires dexterity and patience to get more in your mouth than on your shirt and that’s just not me.

But then my friend Cecile and I wandered into a deli one lunch hour and we ventured into the Matzah ball soup zone. To this day it’s my go to when I’m sick or really just need some salty, brothy comfort. I loves me some Matzah ball soup. Really.

I also have a love affair with a chunky Basil Tomato bisque down at City Market when I’m feeling adventurous and crazy all in one (I can’t navigate the slim streets of that neighborhood in the snow without endangering old people and runners).

My mom has made this amazing Kermit-hued ham and split pea soup that I’ve loved since I was in college and I beg her to make it (and her whoopee pies) each time she visits.

See? Soup is growing on me!



Cast of characters, including the hard-to-describe shape of ditalini pasta.



And recently, a new service I subscribe to (e-mealz.com) called E-mealz suggested a soup for a weeknight dinner and I was intrigued.

But not foolish. My family does not consist of soup converts. Yet.

I took the recipe (what little I could remember) and set about on a brisk Thursday afternoon to create something close to it. It was a recipe for Chicken and Cannellini Soup but I’d forgotten the particulars. (After much googling, I know now that tomatoes are usually added , but I didn’t and now I like my version better, anway!)

Instead, I came up with my own hybrid, which I have also nicknamed “Immunity Soup” with all those A+ ingredients.

So without further ado…

The no-fail, unofficial, make-it-you- own guide to Cannellini, Pasta and Chicken Soup.

First, grab your favorite soup pot. Isn’t that such a vintage, homey feeling word? Soup pot. I love it. I do not, however, own a soup pot. I own an avocado green Dutch oven made by my own patron saint of the kitchen, Paula Deen. Soup pots be damned.

• I roasted a chicken a month ago and had plenty of stock left over after boiling the carcass to within an inch of its already deceased life. I grabbed a couple 3-cup frozen baggies of that. (But note that I am not above dumping in some water and a bouillon cube if need be. I am not proud!)

• I poached a few tenderloins of frozen chicken and tore them into small pieces. In the end, I had about two cups of chicken pieces from about four or five frozen tenderloins.

• I cut up some onion and about three large garlic cloves pretty finely. If celery is handy, I’ll cut up some of that, too. When the chicken is poached and picked, I’ll put a glob of olive oil in the soup pot and sauté these three (or two, whatever) til they start to submit. And go translucent.

• Add your stock (enough plus water if you’re low).

• Add your chicken.

• Open a can of white kidney beans and rinse them. I use a half can, you can use more. It's your soup. They're your beans. Get crazy with the Cheese Whiz.

• If I have small pasta (I happen to love Ditalini, small mini tubes) I’ll add a small handful, but not too much. I learned the hard way with my first batch of this that it grows when cooked. And crowds the soup with too much pasta and beans. And then it’s not even soup anymore and just a watery pasta bean thing that makes a mess.

• To all of this, I season with whatever I happen to feel that day. Rosemary. Salt. Pepper. Basil. Season salt. It’s up to you.

• I’ll juice half a lemon and add it early. Simmering will soften the flavor, but I find the lemon adds an awesome depth to the mild salty flavor.

• And finally, I tend to have spinach handy in the fridge and I love to tear up plenty of handfuls of that and throw it in.


• Put your cover on and simmer on low to medium heat (do not boil) for about 35 minutes. If you have parmesan cheese (grated, not powder), sprinkle it on top as a garnish.



The food snob in me would love to say “be sure to serve with a crusty artisan bread and boutique butter” but the realist in me will tell you that I actually slathered grocery store butter on some sandwich bread and it was pretty damn amazing with my soup. So there.





Happy eating...and happy SOUP days.