How to make the best soup using leftovers

How to make the best soup using leftovers. This soup turned out to be one of the most pleasant soups we have every brought to a boil on a chilly winter night in New York.

If you love to cook, it is possible that you have imagined yourself on one of those TV cooking shows in which a bag of mystery goodies is handed to the chef from which they have to create beautiful food. Or perhaps you have wished a member of your family or a friend, would let you loose in their kitchen from where you can create beautiful food.

It just so happened that on a chilly night in New York, Judy and Giulio had left Enzo and I in charge of emptying their fridge while they were in Italy. Luckily, they keep their fridge stocked with a great diversity of fresh ingredients, so we came up with this chunky soup. You achieve the best leftover soup ever, with slow cooking and regular stirring.

Soup using leftovers: What we had to work with:

Olive oil
4 sticks of celery (include any leaves if you have them)
¼ globe fennel bulb
1 small white onion
1 level tablespoon garlic powder
1 level teaspoon salt
2 oz Giulio’s homemade prosciutto
1 tomato, roughly diced
1 tablespoon roasted red peppers
½ chicken breast, cooked
1 tin small, white beans
8 stems flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine (or red … we’re cooking on the fly here so use what you can find, even beer or lager!)
1 cup water

Take one medium sized saucepan and cover the bottom with olive oil.
Throw in the celery, fennel, onion, garlic powder, salt and prosciutto.
Saute on a low to medium heat for 3 minutes and stir regularly.
Now add the tomato and continue cooking over a low to medium heat for a further 10 minutes until the tomatoes begin to disappear into a sauce.
Add the roasted red pepper, chicken breast, white beans parsley, white wine and water.
Continue to cook on low for a further 5 minutes and continue to stir often.
Serve with some fresh, crusty bread – if you can find any.

Related recipes