Ingredients
- 1 large yellow squash, sliced into quarter circles a 1/2" wide
- 6 Asparagus spears, trimmed, stocks peeled and cut into 1/2 slices
- 2 stalks Celery, cleaned and diced
- 2 Tbs Olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 Garlic cloves, pressed/minced
- 4 oz. Kale, cleaned, stemmed and rough chopped
- 1 3 oz.Chicken Sausage link ( I used Bruce Aidell's chicken/artichoke)sliced in half and cut into 1/2" half moons.
- 8 oz Meatballs cooked, cut in half, then quartered. I had some frozen that needed to be used. Making from scratch would certainly taste better.
- 6 cups Chicken Stock (preferably homemade)
- 15 oz diced canned tomatoes with juice.
- 2 tsp Italian herbs, dried
- 2 tsp Garlic pepper
- 2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 15 oz can Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed.
- 4 oz Orzo, dried pasta
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Clean Out the Refrigerator & Pantry Soup
Time: 15 minutes prep, 20 minutes cook
Servings: 6
Directions
- Combine Chicken stock and tomatoes in a blender and puree.
- Sweat onion, celery in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and cook about 1 minute more.
- Add Chicken/tomato mixture, herbs, pepper and salt to pot; cover and bring to a rapid simmer. Add beef, sausage and Kale. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes for flavors to meld.
- Add Garbanzo beans, orzo and asparagus to pot. Cover and simmer for about five minutes.
- Add squash to pot. Cover and simmer another five minutes or until vegetables and orza are done to your liking. Al dente for me.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
- Soup is ready for service.
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Summary
The beauty of soup is that is has no boundries. Anything can become soup. It is filling. It is economical. This concoction is the result of trying to clean out the refrigerator, pantry and a couple of freezer items before going grocery shopping for the week today. My motto for soup is use whatever you have on hand but still come up with something tasty. Though the ingredients have some resemblance of Italian it just ended that way from what was available. Adding a salad and crusty bread make for an easy weeknight meal. Wine: Jacuzzi Family Vineyards 2009 Sonoma Coast Sangiovese. There's a third century Greek proverb that goes--"A wise man does all things right, including the seasoning of soup."
