Ground Chicken and Pasta Soup

Welcome, soup season!

I had some ground chicken that I pulled out of the freezer the other day, and I didn't know what to do with it. You can make soup out of pretty much anything, don't you think?

This wagon wheel pasta is fun, too. It expands a lot though, so don't be tempted to add more.

Here's a bonus recipe for bread sticks to dip into your soup.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Roll out a tube of Pillsbury crescent roll dough.

Use a pizza cutter to make strips.

Put some sauce, garlic powder and cheese on top.

Twist the strips and put them on a parchment lined baking sheet.

The cheese sticks to the sauce so twisting these isn't as hard as you might think.

DO NOT use foil. My mistake. They didn't come off easily.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until golden.

Ground Chicken and Pasta Soup
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 1 sweet red pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lb lean ground chicken (or beef)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 650 ml (22oz?) jar pasta sauce (I used basil) 
• 4 cups chicken broth
• Parmesan cheese rind (optional) 
• 1 1/2 cups dried Rotelle pasta (or whatever shape you like)
• 1/3 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
• shredded mozzarella & Parmesan for garnish

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Fry the onion, red pepper, garlic and ground meat for several minutes, until the meat is cooked through.
2. Add the Italian seasoning, pepper flakes, salt and pepper and stir.
3. Stir in the sauce and broth, then add a Parmesan cheese rind if you have one. You can keep them in the freezer once you've finished the cheese, and use them for soup. I picked up that tip from The Food Network.
4. Let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes, then stir in the pasta. Cook until it becomes tender (but not mushy). The cooking time will depend on your pasta.
5. Stir in 1/3 cup Parmesan.
6. Serve hot with some extra Parmesan and mozzarella grated on top.
7. I also made bread sticks using Pillsbury crescent roll dough, pasta sauce, garlic powder and mozzarella. But I don't recommend baking them directly on foil. Use parchment or they WILL stick. We had a hard time getting them off the foil.