Southern Italian Chicken Soup

I made this soup for dinner last night and it is a very hearty delicious soup.  The recipe calls for chicken breast and you brown them in a skillet for about 5 minutes.  I already had a whole chicken, so I boiled my chicken, let it cool and then took the meat off of the bone. The fried chicken breast may really give the soup a little different flavor and next time I make it I am going to try the fried breast but you now have two options. I love soup and I cannot have to many soup recipes!

1 large onion diced
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
2 carrots, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced  (the recipe calls for only one)
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups chicken broth
1 (15.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes flavored with basil, onion and garlic)
1 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 (6 to 8 oz.) skinned and boned chicken breast
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups sliced fresh okra ( I used frozen)
1 (15.5 ounce)can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed ( I had frozen and used them)
1 (9 ounce) package refrigerated cheese filled tortelini
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Saute first 4 ingredients in 2 tablespoons of hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes or until tender.  Stir in broth and next 3 ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Cook in remaining olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat 5 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.  Cool slightly (about 5 minutes) cut into 1 inch pieces.

Add okra, black-eyed peas, and chicken to Dutch oven, simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until okra (and if you use frozen blackeyed peas) and peas are tender.  Add tortelini and cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes or until tortelini is done.  Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

This soup is great alone but would be good with a small salad or a big piece of garlic crusty french bread. We had the bread and it was great for dipping. :)