Chicken Broccoli Rabe Soup With Tortellini -- January Gives You Cold, You Give It Broth

January 2020. A new year, a new decade, and the same kitchen. The same woman standing at the stove, a little older, a lot lighter — I've lost the weight of a husband and gained the weight of his absence, and somehow the math comes out heavier, not lighter. But I'm standing. That counts.

School started again, and I walked into that Hodge kitchen knowing it was my last spring there. Thirty-four and a half years. The longest relationship of my life, if you count institutions. Earl was forty-three years. Hodge will be thirty-five. The kitchen knows me better than I know myself — it knows my rhythms, my shortcuts, the way I move from prep station to stove to serving line without looking, the way a dancer moves through a routine she's performed ten thousand times.

I haven't told the staff yet. Only Mrs. Patterson knows. Sheila — my kitchen aide for eight years — she suspects, because Sheila has the instincts of a detective and the discretion of a town crier. She asked me last week, "Dot, are you going somewhere?" I said, "I'm standing right here, Sheila." She gave me a look. I gave her one back. We have a language of looks, Sheila and I, same as me and Earl had, same as me and Denise have. Women communicate in glances. Words are for the things we haven't figured out how to look yet.

Kayla's been talking more about Sapelo. She wants us to go back — not just visit, but spend a weekend. She wants to record Miss Cornelia's stories before Miss Cornelia can't tell them anymore, because at eighty-nine, the clock is a fact even when you don't want to look at it. Kayla said, "Granny, this is important. These stories will disappear if nobody writes them down." She's right. They will. They're already disappearing. Every day an elder dies, a library burns.

Made chicken soup tonight. Not because anyone's sick — because January requires soup the way July requires sweet tea. It's the contract between the season and the cook. January gives you cold. You give it broth.

Now go on and feed somebody.

That pot I made tonight wasn’t from a recipe card — it was from thirty-four-plus years of knowing what a body needs in the deep cold of January. When I land on a soup like this one, chicken and bitter greens and little pillows of tortellini all moving together in the broth, I think about how the best things we make aren’t complicated, they’re just honest. This is the one I keep coming back to when the season demands something that feeds more than just hunger.

Chicken Broccoli Rabe Soup With Tortellini

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 1 bunch broccoli rabe (about 12 oz), trimmed and roughly chopped
• 9 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, sliced into rounds
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

Instructions

1. Cook the chicken. Place chicken in a medium saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook 15–18 minutes until cooked through. Transfer to a cutting board, let rest 5 minutes, then shred or chop into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
2. Saute the aromatics. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–7 minutes until softened. Add garlic, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes; cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
3. Build the broth. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
4. Add the broccoli rabe. Stir in the chopped broccoli rabe. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes until the greens are tender and the bitterness has mellowed into the broth.
5. Cook the tortellini. Add the tortellini to the pot and cook according to package directions, typically 3–5 minutes, until the pasta is tender and floating.
6. Finish and serve. Stir in the shredded chicken and heat through, about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Ladle into bowls and top with freshly grated Parmesan. Now go on and feed somebody.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 320 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 620mg