Chicken Soup with Tortellini
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INGREDIENTS 1/2 chicken with giblets, back, neck and wing tips
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 stalks celery, leaves included, cut into bite-size pieces
2 carrots, cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 sprig parsley
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
20 Tortellini
2 quarts boiling, salted waterPlace chicken, vegetables and bay leaf in a 3-quart kettle. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer the soup, uncovered, about 2 hours. Allow to cool and skim off the fat.
Remove the chicken and giblets and pick the meat from the bones. Return the meat to the soup. Reduce the soup to about 6 cups. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.
Cook Tortellini in boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and add to the soup.
Simmer the Tortellini in the soup for 10 minutes or until tender. Serve the soup steaming hot.
TORTELLINI
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 to 4 tablespoons olive oilFILLING
1/4 cup minced onion
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup cooked chicken meat
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt to tasteSift the flour with the salt. Make a well in the flour. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, to the well, mixing with the flour and then remaking the well for the next egg. After the eggs have been mixed in, add the olive oil, as much as is needed to moisten the dough. Knead the dough until smooth. Let the dough rest for at least 1 hour.
TO MAKE THE FILLING
Slowly sauté the onion in the butter until it is translucent. Grind the onion with the chicken in a food processor.
Mix the ground chicken with the cheese, eggs, nutmeg and salt and set aside.
Roll the dough out of a thickness of 1/8-inch. Cut circles in the dough, about 2-inches in diameter. Place about 1 teaspoon of the meat stuffing in the center of each circle. Fold 1 edge onto the other, making in effect a half moon. Seal the edges with a fork. Twist the 2 ends of the half circles toward each other. ( The Tortellini may be frozen at this point.)
NOTE - To cut down on the preparations before serving this dish, you can make the Tortellini ahead of time and freeze them, or make the dough ahead and freeze it, or make the soup ahead.