Chicken Soup With Asparagus And Rice

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 3/4 cup rice, uncooked
• 12 cups chicken stock
• 3 ounces pancetta, diced
• 16 ounces asparagus, fresh
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 cups cooked chicken, diced (optional)
• salt
• black pepper

Recipe

• 1 in a stockpot, saute the diced onion, celery and carrot in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, until the onions are translucent, about 8-10 minutes.
• 2 stir in the rice and add the chicken stock.
• 3 bring the stock to a simmer, cover and cook on low until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
• 4 meanwhile, wash the asparagus and trim off the woody ends. (throw them away or use them to make vegetable stock for another recipe.).
• 5 slice the asparagus in 1-inch lengths on the bias, collecting the tips separately (because they cook very quickly and will be added last).
• 6 heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet.
• 7 saute the pancetta and asparagus pieces (not the tips yet) about 5 minutes, stirring as needed. the idea is to soften the asparagus but not cook it entirely.
• 8 add the asparagus tips and saute an additional minute.
• 9 when the rice in the stock pot is tender, add the lemon juice, diced chicken, and the pancetta/aspargus mixture.
• 10 bring to a boil; remove from heat.
• 11 season with salt and pepper.
• 12 serve.