Monday, January 11, 2016

Chicken Pot Pie Soup


Happy New Year! The holidays are over! Yay! The kids are back in school! Yay! My husband is working normal hours at the office! Yay! And I got to spend a few days at home while the rain came pouring down...Yay! 

And do you know what goes great with rain? That's right. You got it...SOUP!

Inspiration for this soup came from a Chicken Pot Pie Soup from Shugary Sweets. What caught my eye was the broccoli and the pie crust. You don't usually see broccoli in Chicken Pot Pie, so I loved her addition of it and I loved her idea to use pie crust as a soup topper. The pie crust really makes this soup really fun and extra delicious!

I used her basic recipe as a guide and adapted it a bit by adding a few extra layers of flavor to the soup. I increased the chicken broth and added garlic, thyme and Parmesan cheese to flavor the soup base and then added sweet white corn to add some sweetness and texture. I used leftover herb chicken which also added another layer of flavor and let me tell you...This soup was delicious!
I'll admit, I added a ton more pie crust once the photos were done! My soup was loaded with crust, the best part!  Enjoy!
 

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

(Adapted recipe from Shugary Sweets)
Serves 6-8

1 frozen pie crust dough, thawed
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup yellow onion, small dice
1/2 cup celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced 
1-2 cups cooked chicken, diced (I used leftover grilled chicken breast) 
1/2 cup white corn kernels
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk 
1 t fresh thyme leaves
dash of red pepper flakes (optional) 
1/4 cup flour plus 2-3T water mixture (for thickening)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 
1 cup broccoli florets, cut up 
salt and pepper (to taste)
grated Cheddar or Parmesan cheese for topping


Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
Place thawed pie dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet and cut into wavy strips with a pastry cutter. Bake strips in a 450 degree oven for 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Break up strips into 1-2 inch pieces. Set aside.

In a large Dutch oven, add olive oil, onion, garlic and celery and heat over medium high heat until vegetables are tender-crisp, ~5 minutes. Add cooked chicken, corn, chicken broth, heavy cream, milk, thyme leaves, red pepper and simmer for 10 minutes. Add flour mixture to thicken the soup and simmer another 5 minutes. Add Parmesan cheese and continue to heat for another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and soup is thickened. Turn off heat and stir in broccoli florets. Cover soup and set aside to let the broccoli cook in hot soup for 5-8 minutes.
Salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with cheese and broken pie crust croutons.



Other recipes to try:

White Bean,Sausage & Kale Soup             Pork Verde and Hominy Stew