This time, I also used a rotisserie chicken carcass, but I omitted the apple. I added carrot, onion, celery, and some kale that was soon going to go bad. We were home all day, so it simmered on low for about five hours.
When the stock was ready, I strained it and then made Italian Wedding Soup with it. I wanted to make something that was warm, hearty, and had lots of veggies and lots of meat (my carnivorous husband has been putting up with a lot of vegan cooking lately -- he's earned it).
10-12 cups of chicken stock (preferably home-made!)
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 piece of Ezekiel bread
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 egg whites
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup small, uncooked pasta, like ditalini
4 cups chopped dark, leafy greens (I used mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, and spinach)
Rip the Ezekiel bread and put it in the blender to pulse into crumbs. Put the crumbs, sausage, and egg whites into a bowl and then mush together by hand. Form into 1-inch meatballs. Put olive oil into a pan and brown the meatballs in batches. [They don't have to cook all the way through, but they should be brown on all sides.]
Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside, but leave the oil in the pan.
Put the carrots, celery, and garlic in the same pan and cook for about 3 minutes. Then put the chicken stock, the veggies, the meatballs, and the pasta in a large pot. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, add the dark, leafy greens and cook for 15 minutes more. Serve.
This meal made the whole family happy: veggies for me, meat for my hubby, and soft finger food (cut up meatballs, carrots, celery, and pasta) for the toddler and baby. A winner!
