Pesto Tortellini Chicken Soup

Pesto Tortellini Chicken Soup

1 head of garlic + 4 large cloves, peeled and "bruised" with the flat of knife

1 sweet orange or red or yellow pepper

1.5 lb of raw chicken (I used thighs)

3 qts chicken broth 

4 medium to large carrots, diced (with one set aside) 

3 stalks of celery sliced lengthwise and chopped

1 lb dried tortellini (I used Trader Joe's pesto tortellini)

1-2 handfuls of fresh spinach, rinsed, stacked, and sliced into thin ribbons (You can slice it however you want, I just found stacking and slicing all at once worked quite nicely for me). 

1-3 tsp onion powder (to taste)

3 Tbs pesto sauce, or to taste (I used Aldi's Pesto sauce)
2 or 3 pinches of salt (if using low sodium chicken broth, otherwise, to taste, after it is all cooked)
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

After eating, I decided that some shredded Asiago cheese to "finish" it would have also been nice. 

Roasting:

1. Preheat oven to 400 for roasting garlic and pepper purposes
2. Lay out two sheets of tin foil
3. Slice the tips of the cloves on the head of garlic, place in the middle of one square of tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil. 
4. Slice the pepper in half and remove the seeds. Brush with oil inside and out and lay face down on the 2nd square of tinfoil.
5. Close the foil for both tightly to contain mess and allow the garlic/pepper to steam/roast for 35-40 minutes. 

Soup: 

I cooked my chicken in the instant pot and finished the soup there as well, but if you have a big soup kettle, that works fine also. 

1. Pour 2 qts of chicken broth into pot (It can start heating up, either with IP Saute' function or medium heat on the stove)
2. Add the chicken, the bruised garlic, the one set aside chopped carrot, the chopped celery, and the onion powder. 
3. IP ~ close lid and cook on HP for 12 minutes, quick release, stove~ bring to boil and then simmer for 25-30 minutes. 
4. Remove chicken from pot to shred (I like to get rid of the little fatty bits and skin that don't dissolve at this point, before shredding).
5. If you have an immersion blender, you can incorporate the cooked garlic, celery and carrot pieces into the broth now (I did). If not, I might fish out the garlic cloves ~ or not. 
   
6. Bring the broth to a boil and add the rest of the diced carrot and the tortellini and cook for 14-16 minutes (Or according to the instructions on your tortellini package. If it is fresh tortellini, dump the carrots in a little earlier)
7. By now the roasted garlic and pepper are probably done, so take the foil carefully out of the oven and let it cool a minute while you shred the chicken and add it back to the pot.
8. By now you can probably add the ribboned spinach and swirl it in to wilt
9. Squeeze the garlic out of 4 of the cloves, peel the skin from the pepper halves and smush it all into a paste and swirl that, the Pesto sauce, and the pinch(es) of salt into the broth as well. 
10. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes, then dish up into bowls, add fresh ground pepper and shredded asiago cheese to taste. 
    

Garnish with yummy toasted bread~ I crushed the rest of the roasted garlic cloves and mixed it with a little butter and olive oil to put on our toast. YUM! 

 Blessings~