Sarasota's Speedy Chicken Cacciatore Soup

This was in a small cookbook I bought at a Christmas Holiday Sale, probably 10 years back. It was submitted by Ellen Yatze, from Ft. Myers Florida. Ellen, it is a great soup! It is funny how going through my old recipe boxes, I have all these old hand written recipes, I have yet to type up - ones I simply forgot about. The title says it all. But what I like about this is how quick it cooks up. Other than chopping your chicken (I used a store bought rotisserie) and basil, and cooking the bacon, the rest is open the can or jar and add to the pot. Simmer for 15 minutes and you have a hearty soup. By all means, when I have time, I would be using chicken breasts, fresh onions and would roast my own red peppers, but the whole idea behind this soup is "quick!" She suggested serving it with some parmesan polenta and of course with the olive garnish.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 4-6
• Yields: 4 Large bowls

Ingredients

• 4  slices bacon, diced (then sauteed)
• 1  lb chicken, diced (about 1/2 rotisserie chicken is what I used, but you can more or less if you want)
• 1  cup onion, diced (I use the pre-diced frozen onions, you can get them pre-diced right from the produce section too)
• 8  ounces white mushrooms (I used the pre-sliced mushrooms from the produce section)
• 3⁄4 cup  roasted red pepper, diced (right from a jar)
• 1⁄2 green pepper (thin sliced in 1-inch pieces) (optional)
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomatoes, diced, Italian blend if possible
• 3  cups chicken broth
• 1⁄2 cup red wine
• 1  tablespoon  balsamic vinegar
• 2  tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 2  teaspoons  minced garlic
• 1  teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1  teaspoon olive oil
•  salt
•  pepper

• Garnish

• 1⁄3 cup black olives, chopped (buy the can that is pre-chopped)
• 1⁄3 cup green olives, chopped
•  olive oil
•  cheesy polenta (quick cooking polenta and parmesan cheese)

Directions

1. Bacon -- In a large pot, saute your bacon in 1 teaspoon olive oil on medium heat until crisp.
2. Vegetables -- To the bacon and drippings, add your onions, mushrooms, garlic and cook until slightly softened, just a couple of minutes. Add in the roasted red pepper, Optional green pepper, red pepper flakes and cook another minute.
3. Broth -- Add the red wine and vinegar and cook just a minute scraping up any bits off the bottom of the pan. Add in the broth, tomatoes, and chicken. Check for seasoning (salt and pepper). Lower to medium low heat and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes. Finish with the fresh basil the last couple of minutes.
4. Garnish -- As your soup is simmering, make your garnish and polenta. For the olives -- in a small bowl, fine chop and mix the two olives together and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. I like a mix of black and green, but use what you like best - and let people help themselves. And for the polenta, simply make your favorite kind. I used a quick cooking which was. Two (2) cups chicken broth and 1/2 cup polenta, and stir in 1/2 cup parmesan right at the end, salt and pepper. I used quick cooking so 5 minutes and it was done. Use your favorite.
5. Serve -- A couple of ladles per bowl, top with a scoop of the cheesy polenta and garnish with the olives.