Creamy Chicken and Artichoke Soup

Oh my goodness gracious….do not know about where you live but, it has rained and rained here in Atlanta for days. When it is gloomy, wet and cold out all I want is a nice warm bowl of comforting soup. This is a soup we all love. As you may have guessed I have lots of soup recipes…yes, I do like soup. This soup is wonderful in the winter and summer as well. In the summer I make a chicken salad very much like the soup they pair very well together. It is great with home made croutons on top and a little grated parmesan cheese. Tonight I am serving it with a homemade Crunchy Rosemary Focaccia Bread. I am trying a new recipe for the focaccia today, the one from the new book The Tucci Cookbook. I will let you know how it fairs to the other one I make all the time. Try the soup and I am sure you will love it as much as we do….enjoy!

Chicken and Artichoke Soup

4 tablespoon butter
1 onion finely chopped
1 carrot grated
1 celery stalk chopped
1 garlic clove minced
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 – 12oz bag of frozen artichoke hearts ~ Trader Joe’s
1 quart of chicken stock
2 baked chicken breast
1 bay leaf
1 lemon ~ juice and zest
salt and pepper

Rinse then drain your artichoke hearts, set aside. Melt butter in a large stock pot, once melted add your onion, carrot and celery, saute until tender. Add garlic for a brief minute to the onion mixture quickly add your chicken stock. I put about 1 cup of artichokes in the food processor, lemon juice and the cream and puree until creamy. I add this mixture to my soup. I chopped the remaining artichoke hearts in 1 inch pieces and then add them. I chopped the chicken into 1 inch pieces add them and a bay leaf to the soup pot and simmer on a low heat for about one hour. I remove the bay leaf and check the seasonings adding salt and pepper if needed. Be careful if you use canned or prepared stock it can be loaded with salt

The focaccia bread was good but, I will say I still like the old recipe a little better. This new recipe called for milk and more fat. I am voting for the tried and true recipe. You can find the recipe over to the right in the pink buttons under focaccia bread.