I absolutely love having leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, I buy a turkey that is way bigger than I know we could possibly eat, because I want leftover for sandwiches and soup, ...and I know everyone else will want leftovers too. It's the best part! Last year, I found a recipe for white bean turkey soup on Epicurious. I changed a few things, to make it my own, and it has definitely become a post-turkey day staple. I tend to even make it a few other times in the winter with chicken instead of turkey. In my opinion, it is ten times better than your traditional chicken noodle soup.
Below are the ingredients that I used for the soup. Not pictured is the turkey leftovers, and turkey broth made from scratch.
1 package dried white beans (whatever kind you choose)
2-3 whole carrots
2-3 celery stalks
one whole yellow onion
2 15oz cans diced tomatoes
leftover turkey, cut or torn into bite-sized pieces
homemade turkey broth, you will have to eye the amount to use, aprox. 10 cups total
about 4 servings of Orzo pasta
To make turkey broth, I boil the carcass (picked through), the leftover turkey drippings, and water. I do this with all the meat I buy when I have leftover bone/carcass. It's free broth, and it tastes way better than the store bought. When filling the pan, you want the carcass to be about two-thirds to three-fourths covered with liquid, so after adding the dripping, add water for the rest. I let this boil for about half an hour. Then I bring it down to a simmer and let it sit for hours. This year it probably simmered for about 5 hours. You wanna get all the turkey flavor you can. If you have a big enough crock-pot, it is probably easier. After you feel the broth is complete, use a mesh strainer to separate out all the pieces. Place the broth into containers and set in the fridge. Once it is completely cooled you can remove the fat layer which will have separated to the top. The second time I made turkey broth, I thought I messed it up somehow because it was very thick and gelatin-like. Since then, I have learned that if it is thick, that means you did it right. It looks weird, and you will need to add some water when using it for soup, but a concentrated broth, makes the soup taste much better. Yet another cooking tip you can only learn from experience.
Back to the soup. In the morning, place dried beans in crock pot. Cover with broth. If broth is very thick, add equal amounts of water to thin (approximately 5-7 cups together). Chop carrots celery, and onion and add to the pot. Cook on low for approximately eight hours. Side note; the turkey that I make is very garlicy. The broth is also very garlicy. If it wasn't, I would add 4-5 chopped cloves at this point too.
Once the beans are soft (or in my case, when I get home from work), I transfer everything to a large soup pot, only because my crock pot is too small. I can literally hear my mom's voice in my ears "I told you so, I knew you would need a bigger crock pot". Ugh! Whatevs mom. Anyway, once the soup is in a big enough pot, I add the tomatoes (not drained), and the turkey (or chicken) pieces. Simmer for another hour. The soup will need to have quite a bit more broth than you think because the orzo will soak it all up. Add the orzo and continue to simmer for another 30-45 min. Next, divide and serve!
Add parm and basil to garnish. Yum!
Until next time...
That looks awesome!
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