Chicken Parmesan Soup with Cheesy Garlic Bread . . . Oh, Yeah!

Spring is here . . . they say . . . but since it has remained so cold for so long it is still "soup season" around here. This is a recipe that's new to my family, but I have a feeling it will rank right of there with our other favorites.

And, of course, you know we are bread lovers, here, and you HAVE to have this wonderful cheesy garlic bread to top-off this delicious soup.

As our girls used to say when they were little ~ it's yummy in your tummy. 

 Google photo

You will need:

For Soup:
~olive oil
~2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; trimmed of all fat and gristle
~1 28oz can of diced tomatoes; seasoned or unseasoned, use what your family likes best
~1 qt chicken broth
~sea salt OR Real Salt
~pepper
~1 c fresh, chopped basil OR 1/2 c dried basil (fresh is best)
~1 ts red pepper flakes
~1 medium-to-large sweet onion
~frying pan
~soup pot or dutch oven

For Bread:
~8 slices of crusty Artisan bread OR bake my yummy rosemary and flax artisan bread 

 My rosemary & flax artisan bread

~3 chopped-up cloves of garlic OR 3 TB garlic granules
~1/2 to 1c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1) if your chicken breasts are nice & plump, pound them out to flatten a little; cut into "soup sized" pieces
 
2) in your frying pan, pour enough olive oil to JUST cover bottom of pan, turn heat on to Medium, place chicken in the pan, sea salt & pepper to taste & cook until chicken is JUST cooked through. Set aside. **You may want to pre-heat your oven to 350* for your bread now.

3) heat soup pot/dutch oven to med-high; add onion, chopped garlic & pepper flakes; saute' until onions start to soften

4) add tomatoes & chicken broth; once they heat up, reduce heat & let simmer for 5 minutes

5) add chicken & simmer another 5 minutes

6) add basil & stir to completely mix ingredients, let simmer

7) put bread slices on a cookie sheet or large baking stone; drizzle with olive oil (do not soak bread in oil), sprinkle a little sea salt, pepper, garlic granules on your bread slices. Top off with yummy grated Parmesan cheese

8) bake at 350* for 5 minutes or until cheese has melted to gooey goodness

9) Ladle soup into deep bowls, sprinkle a little grated Parmesan cheese onto soup & then lay a beautiful slice of cheesy garlic bread on top of the soup

10) ENJOY

Let me know how you LOVE this soup.

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><