Nosh Nosh Baby

I’d been complaining to my Mom about my soups lacking depth for months now.  I use great ingredients, pay attention and follow instruction, but they never come out like Mom’s.  Frustrated, but not defeated, I drove home this weekend to work in her kitchen and document her tricks.  Not only did I pick up some crafty maneuvers, I learned a great new recipe and got to take home a big pot of awesome for lunch for the week.  We added chick peas but for those seeking a Paleo-friendly dish, those can be left out.

Soup Ingredients:

• Few tbsp. Olive Oil
• 6 pieces bacon, chopped into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 lb. pork sausage, chopped 1/4- 1/2 in pieces (I picked up 2 andouille sausages from Whole Foods)
• 10 oz. white mushrooms, sliced medium- thick
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, 1 sprig fresh oregano
• 3/4 jalapeno, chopped (I keep the seeds and membrane b/c I like it spicy)
• 2 leeks, trimmed and chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp, tomato paste
• 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
• 72 oz. chicken stock/ broth (I used 48 oz. chicken broth and 26 oz. chicken stock)
• 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 parmesan rind (you can buy these in the cheese section at WF and freeze them)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3 chicken breasts, pulled apart into large chunks (I bought rotisserie chicken from Jewel)
• 1 bag spinach
• 1 handful fresh parsley/celery leaves (for garnish)

How To:  Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large soup pot and add sausage and bacon.  Cook the meat until it begins to brown before removing meat and oil (separate sausage, bacon and grease, but do not throw any out).  Leave a good coating of the bacon grease in the pot and saute mushrooms until they begin to brown.  A minute before you take them out, toss in your fresh herbs (thyme and oregano).  When your herbs begin to pop and crack, remove mushrooms and set aside.  In the same pot, add a large spoonful of your bacon grease or EVOO and heat up before tossing in your jalapeno.  This will infuse the oil with the heat from the jalapeno and prime it for the rest of your veggies.  After a few minutes, toss in leeks, onion, carrot, celery and cook until tender, before adding garlic at the end.  Cook for a few more minutes.  Next, add a tablespoon of tomato paste to your veggies and stir it thoroughly so that it caramelizes the veggies.  Add in stock/ broth, crushed tomatos, mushrooms, chick peas and sausage.  Stir thoroughly and drop your parmesan rind and dried thyme.  Cook uncovered until you notice some slow, bubble action to happen.  Turn your burner to low and cover for 45 minutes.  After 45 minutes, taste your soup.  Salt and pepper as needed and add in lemon juice and chicken.  For serving, I add a handful of spinach to the bottom of the bowl and cover it with soup.  Garnish with celery leaves/ parsley and bacon.  Serve hot and take a bow!