The Gluten-Free Italian: Chicken Soup with a Twist

Hearty Soup for Snowy Soul

By far this is the BEST chicken soup I have made and what truly makes it even more delicious is that it's easily digestible. For whatever reason, I love chicken soup (any kind really) but never feel good after eating it. After much consideration, I treated this soup somewhat like Ratatouille - each component was separately sauteed then brought together to a simmering boil (less than an hour) before deconstructing in order to reconstruct...you'll see.

Clean & cut vegetables for Mirepoix. Typically, this is made with onion, celery, and carrot. Since I had a few leeks from Whole Foods in my refrigerator, I substituted leek for the onion.
In a stockpot or large Dutch oven, heat ~ 2 Tablespoons of olive oil; then add Mirepoix on low heat under tender (~10 minutes).
While sauteeing, add kosher salt, ground pepper, thyme, sage, & dill (or whatever you prefer).
Remove Mirepoix with slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl or dish.
Add chicken to the pot to brown & season a bit. Allow to sear prior to turning to the other side. For this soup, I used chicken breast with ribs rather than a whole chicken.
Once chicken is seared completely, add Mirepoix back to the pot and add water.
When adding water, I always add enough to not only cover the veggies & chicken, but a little extra as water evaporates. The leeks really added a tremendous fragrance to the broth without necessitating additional store bought stock.
After ~ 45 minutes (or whenever the chicken is completely cooked), I removed the chicken & plated it to cool. Using a slotted spoon, I then removed the Mirepoix to a bowl - and set aside.
Taking a large (but smaller) stockpot, I placed a mesh colander with cheesecloth in it so that I could pour the remaining soup stock into the clean pot while rendering away the fat in the broth (from the chicken skin). See below.

Chicken stock prior to pouring through colander & cheese cloth

Rendered fats from the stock

A beautiful & fragrant clear broth remains, which I think was key in making this soup amazing

10. While dicing the chicken for the soup, I pan seared crimini mushrooms and set aside. I've never added mushroom before & this really added to the depth & flavor of the soup.

11. Loving leafy greens, I quickly chopped baby spinach and added it to the broth, allowing it to soften a bit.

12. Lastly, the diced chicken & Mirepoix were added back along with the seared mushrooms.