Chicken Pesto Soup

Thick, rich, flavoursome chicken soup using parmesan rind for extra flavour and base topped with fresh green pesto.

Adding whole chicken thighs on the bone to this Chicken Pesto Soup base adds another dimension of rich cartilage-marrow injected chicken flavour that you cannot instantly produce with a shop-bought version.

Normally chicken stock is cooked down for a minimum of 4 hours to extract all the flavour from the bones. Broth extracted this way has many health benefits and you will notice the soup base has an oily thickness. This is where the chicken fat, cartilage and flavour all come together to produce that warm comforting homemade chicken stock taste.

What Chicken stock should I use for this recipe?

If you have homemade chicken stock handy, then certainly use it for this recipe. Otherwise, for those short on time, a shop-bought version will do just fine.

Adding parmesan rind to soup

Using parmesan rind is a wonderful way to add saltiness to stock or sauce and will help in thickening.
For a spectacular end result, the soup is finished with an Italian twist by garnishing with high-quality olive oil, green pesto and parmesan.

Chicken Pesto Soup

Print Recipe

Italian inspired Chicken Pesto Soup recipe made with chicken thighs, parmesan rind, vegetables and topped with fresh green basil pesto

• Author: Flaevor
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 2-4 1x
• Category: Chicken
• Cuisine: Soup

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 stick celery, chopped medium to fine
• 1 carrot, chopped into small chunks
• 1 potato peeled and chopped into small cubes
• 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 large tomato chopped or 12 small plum tomatoes
• 4 chicken thighs on the bone
• 1.5 liters chicken stock
• 2 inch piece parmesan rind
• Salt and pepper
• Good quality shop-bought pesto
• Good quality olive oil for drizzling
• Grated Parmesan

Instructions

1. Using a large saucepan, fry onions until soft. Add garlic, oregano, chilli flakes, potato, carrot, celery and cook gently for 5 minutes.
2. Next add chicken stock, parmesan rind and chicken thighs, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
3. After 45 minutes take out chicken thighs and remove meat from bones. Discard bones, shred chicken into large pieces and return to soup base along with the peas. Simmer for another few minutes then remove from heat. Season with salt (if needed) and pepper as desired.
4. To serve: Remove parmesan rind from soup. Divide chicken soup between bowls, drizzle with olive oil, add a large spoonful of pesto and sprinkle with grated parmesan.

Keywords: Italian chicken soup, pesto soup, chicken pesto soup, parmesan rind stock, parmesan rind soup

Swiss version here