Italian Penicillin Soup

SAVE this recipe for the next time you or someone in your fam is sick!

Nana’s Italian penicillin soup

INGREDIENTS:

-10 cups water (or 4 cups chicken stock/bone broth, 6 cups water)

-4 tsp Chicken Bouillon (or only 1 tbsp if you’re using chicken broth/bone broth)

-5 large carrots, peeled 

-5 celery stalks 

-1 white onion 

-5 cloves garlic (or however many you want, really can’t go wrong)

-optional: a couple sprigs of thyme & rosemary (we had leftover from thanksgiving so threw them in)

-optional: 1 tsp Italian Bomba sauce from TJs (Calabrian chili paste) 

-pastina, cooked (I cook mine separately and pour broth over, but you could cook it in the soup if you want) 

-shredded cooked chicken (I used rotisserie chicken, no skin)

-juice of 1 lemon (or half if you don’t like things as lemon-y, but this and the garlic really help if you’re sick)

TOPPINGS: 

-fresh shaved parm

-chopped parsley 

-fresh cracked black pepper 

-pesto 

HOW TO:

-in a large stock pot, add water/broth, all the veggies (give them a rough chop, doesn’t need to be small cus we’re going to blend them), chili paste, herbs and bring to a boil

-once boiling, cover and bring down to low heat until veggies (mostly carrots) are tender (about 20 mins)

-while that’s going, cook your pastina to the directions on the box

-using a slotted spoon, remove the carrots/onions/celery/garlic, and 1 tsp of chicken bouillon and put in a blender with 1-2 cups of broth and blend until smooth (make sure celery is fully blended so no stringy pieces are left)

-remove the herbs from the pot and set aside, you won’t need those 

-once smooth, add it back into the large pot and combine

-add in chicken, lemon juice

-I’m a serving bowl, put a dollop of pesto, then a mound of pastina, then ladle the broth on top. 

-top with Fresh shaved parm, chopped parsley and black pepper and enjoy!

NOTES: if your broth ever gets too salty, just add more water. Or if it’s not salty enough, add more Bouillon - taste as you go and adjust to your preferences!