This soup is an Italian riff on the classic Chicken Vegetable Soup using one of the most underutilized greens – escarole. The broth is bright and flavorful with garlic, lemon, and pesto. Mushrooms add earthiness and cannellini beans make it a heartier meal. Served with good bread smothered in butter (or duck fat), this is the perfect meal for a cool spring day.
Escarole, also called Batavian Endive, is a broad-leafed endive that resembles a huge lettuce head. The outer leaves are bright green and mildly bitter. The pale leaves at its heart are crisp and refreshingly bittersweet. When this green is cooked, the bitterness mellows, and the sweetness steps forward. In soup, escarole adds nuance and balance to the soup broth.
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Chicken Escarole Soup
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 100 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 4 quarts (approx) 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
1 3 lb chicken (more or less)
3 quarts water
1 onion
3 medium-large carrots
4 celery stalks
1 lb cremini (or other) mushrooms, sliced 1/8-1/4 inch thick
10 garlic cloves
3 Tablespoons Pesto
3 Tablespoons duck fat (or butter/ olive oil)
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed
2 bay leaves
1 14 oz can of cannellini beans, drained
half a lemon
1 head of escarole, chopped and rinsed
Instructions
Add the chicken, thyme, bay, water, and about 1 Tablespoon of salt to a pot and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for about 1 hour or until the chicken legs wiggle easily in their sockets and the breast meat is cooked all the way through.
Remove the chicken from the stock pot and set aside, continue simmering the stock while you work on the rest of the soup, adding carrot peelings, onions skins, mushroom stems, and etc to this pot as you prep the vegetables.
Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat and chop it into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces. Add the bones and skin back to the simmering pot.
In a separate soup pot 5-10 quarts in size, heat the duck fat (or other cooking oil). Over medium heat, sauté the onion/leek, celery, mushroom, and carrot until the onions are transparent and the carrot and celery are about halfway tender. Set a strainer over the pot (line this with a coffee filter or tea towel if you want a more refined broth). Squeeze the half lemon over the strainer, then pour the chicken stock through it. Discard the solids.
Add the minced garlic to the soup pot and bring back to a simmer. Continue simmering for about 5-10 minutes more. Add the escarole and simmer for 5 minutes. By this point all the veggies should be tender, if not, simmer for a little longer.
Add the diced chicken and cooked beans to the soup and stir in the pesto. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
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