Chicken Orzo Soup

Sweet Harold has been a little under the weather and I decided to make him a nice pot of chicken and orzo soup. I had noodles, but I thought the orzo pasta would be easier to eat when not feeling your best.

You can use rotisserie chicken, but I had three boneless skinless chicken tenders that I cooked in water with chicken bouillon cubes.  You can use whichever you have, but you'll need about 3 cups of diced cooked chicken.

If you do cook your own chicken, you'll need to strain the broth before making the soup.

Here's what I used:

1 T. olive oil

1 T. butter

2 ribs celery, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

3 boneless/skinless chicken tenders

4 cups water

3 chicken bouillon cubes

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups orzo pasta

2 cups petite green peas

I cooked the chicken in a 3 quart pot with the water and bouillon cubes over medium heat until the chicken was cooked through.  It took about 30 minutes.  You'll need to remove the chicken from the broth and let it cool to the touch so you can dice it up into bite-sized pieces.  Strain the broth and discards any solids.  Set the broth aside.

In the same 3 quart pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat.  Add the celery and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, just until they begin to soften.  If you want to add a small diced yellow onion, that's great.  I didn't think he was up to onions, so I didn't use them this time.

After the veggies begin to soften, add the reserved broth and enough water to make about 6 cups of liquid.  At this point, I added a couple more bouillon cubes just to add a little more depth to the soup.

When the liquid begins to simmer, add the pasta and stir to so it doesn't settle on the bottom of the pot.  Let the pasta cook 7 - 8 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add in the chicken and the peas and continue to stir to make sure the pasta doesn't stick.  Reduce the heat if necessary.  The bouillon cubes will add salt to the soup.  Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

The pasta will need to cook until it is tender and at al dente.  Ladle into bowls and top with chopped parsley if you'd like.