Recipe Background
If you're having just the worst day ever, this is how you turn things around! Save-the-Day Soup makes up for every misstep and stroke of bad luck with a very fortunate combination of ingredients. Salty and succulent pancetta lardons and pan-seared savory chicken thighs are cooked until ultra-tender in stock and white wine. Then the cooking liquids are turned into a creamy, tangy, refreshingly lemony and herbaceous sauce that's lip-smacking delicious! Save-the-Day Soup doesn't wear a cape, but it is certainly a hero!
If you're having just the worst day ever, this is how you turn things around! Save-the-Day Soup makes up for every misstep and stroke of bad luck with a very fortunate combination of ingredients. Salty and succulent pancetta lardons and pan-seared savory chicken thighs are cooked until ultra-tender in stock and white wine. Then the cooking liquids are turned into a creamy, tangy, refreshingly lemony and herbaceous sauce that's lip-smacking delicious! Save-the-Day Soup doesn't wear a cape, but it is certainly a hero!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 tablespoon flour
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 5 ounces diced pancetta lardons
- 2 carrots peeled and cut into 1/4-1/2-inch pieces
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock hot
- 7 ounces green peas
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons prepared basil pesto
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 3 spring onions finely sliced
Directions
- In a medium bowl, add the chicken pieces, the flour, the salt, and the black pepper and toss to coat.
- In a large pan over medium heat, add the vegetable oil.
- Add the seasoned chicken pieces, in batches as needed, and cook, while stirring occasionally, until browned all over but not fully cooked through, about 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer the browned chicken pieces to a plate, set them aside, and repeat until all the chicken pieces are browned.
- Add the pancetta lardons to the pan and cook, while stirring, until they are golden and crisp, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the carrots and the garlic to the lardons and cook, while stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add the wine to the lardon mixture and stir to combine.
- Bring the lardon mixture to a boil and cook, while scraping the bottom of the pan to release the browned bits, until it reduces by about half, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the browned chicken pieces and the stock to the lardon mixture and let it cook until the chicken pieces reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and the liquid is reduced slightly, about 15 minutes.
- Add the peas to the chicken mixture and cook until tender, about 2 minutes.
- Add the cream cheese, the pesto, the lemon zest, the lemon juice, and the spring onions to the chicken mixture and stir to combine until the cream cheese is melted and fully incorporated.
- Serve.
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