Another snow day…I do not know what it is about snowy days that makes me want to cook, but it does.  It’s like another form of nesting, I suppose.

So today I decide one more last hurrah for the winter soup of it all.  I have a bunch of leftovers, a bunch of fresh vegetables, and a bone and gizzard bag in the freezer for Instant Pot bone broth.

The first step was loading the following into my Instant Pot: 1 roasting chicken carcass I had frozen for such a purpose and 2 packets of frozen necks and gizzards saved from other chickens.  To that I added a bunch of celery ribs (cut in half only), a chunked red onion, 4 or 5 carrots, cut in half.  I add 1 bay leaf, a small handful of Juniper berries, quatre epices, salt, pepper, herbes de provence.  I add water half way up my 8 quart Instant Pot and I set to manual and 50 minutes.

When the 50 minutes are up, I turn the Instant Pot off and let it de-pressurize by itself.

Meanwhile I take my big dutch oven (8 quarts) out and get ready to add stuff to it.  I recently got a new dutch oven because my large vintage Dansk was getting a bit shabby.  I replaced it with a Sur Le Table Lightweight Cast Iron Dutch Oven and so far so good.

Into the dutch oven I put: 1 drained can of Goya chick peas (15 oz), 1 can of Hunt’s Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes (14.5 oz do NOT drain), 2/3 cup Israeli couscous (dried not cooked), 1/2 cup orzo (dried not cooked) , a few ribs of celery chopped up (over a cup), four carrots rough chopped, 5 small to medium red potatoes chopped, 1 red or orange or red bell pepper, chopped small, an end of a solid piece of Parmesan grated rind and all (I save odd bits of cheeses and cheese rinds for cheese sauces and other uses like this), some more oregano, basil, thyme, a couple solid dashes of sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, leftover roast chicken shredded, and a smoked sausage (or kielbasa) cut into manageable pieces.

When my  Instant Pot was de-pressurized, I removed all of the bones, gizzards and cooking vegetables and strained my broth into the stove top dutch oven. I brought my broth and veggies and pastas (orzo and couscous) to a boil on a medium low heat (uncovered), stirring frequently.  I then put the lid on my dutch oven and turned off the stove.  There it will sit covered until about 40 minutes before dinner time at which time I will warm up on a low flame to serve.  Add a green salad on the side and it’s a wonderful winter or end of winter snowy day dinner.  If you have any fresh biscuits or a crusty bread, even better.

Buon Appetito!