Peppery Sicilian Chicken Soup in VitaClay

Warm, rustic, and wonderfully satisfying, this Peppery Sicilian Chicken Soup brings together tender chicken, tomatoes, potatoes, vegetables, fresh parsley, and a generous kick of black and white pepper.

The VitaClay cooker makes this especially easy. Instead of standing over a Dutch oven and simmering the soup on the stove, the clay pot gently cooks the chicken and vegetables together, allowing all those savory flavors to mingle while the chicken becomes tender enough to shred.

Add a handful of ditalini toward the end and you have a hearty, colorfulone-pot meal that's just right for a cozy family dinner.

Why We Love Making This Soup in VitaClay

Traditional versions of this soup involve sautéing the vegetables, bringing the broth to a boil, simmering the chicken for an hour, and cooking the pasta separately.

With VitaClay, we can simplify the process.

The natural clay cooking environment is particularly well suited to soups and stews. The chicken, tomatoes, vegetables, broth, and seasonings can gently cook together, creating a flavorful broth with very little hands-on work.

And because we're adapting the recipe for VitaClay,you don't necessarily need to cook the pasta in a separate saucepan. It can be added near the end for an easier one-pot version.

Serves: approximately 8–10
Prep time: about 15 minutes
VitaClay cooking time: approximately 1½–2 hours, depending on model and program
Finish time: about 10–15 minutes for pasta

Ingredients

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 28 ounces diced tomatoes
• 2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 6–8 cups chicken broth, or enough for your VitaClay model without exceeding its maximum fill line
• 1½ teaspoons ground white pepper
• 1½ teaspoons ground black pepper
• Salt to taste
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 8 ounces ditalini pasta

Note: If you don't have white pepper, simply use additional black pepper to taste.

VitaClay Cooking Instructions

1. Build the soup

Add the olive oil, onion, bell pepper, celery, carrots, garlic, potatoes, diced tomatoes, chicken, black pepper, white pepper, and chicken broth to the VitaClay pot.

Stir gently to combine, making sure youdo not exceed your cooker's maximum fill line.

There's no need to bring the broth to a boil first.

2. Let VitaClay do the cooking

Cover and cook using the appropriateSoup/Stew or Slow Cook setting for your VitaClay model until the chicken is tender and the vegetables and potatoes are cooked through.

For many VitaClay models, start checking the soup at approximately1½–2 hours, rather than using the much longer cooking times associated with conventional slow cookers.

Because VitaClay models and programs differ, use your cooker's recommended soup setting as the primary guide.

3. Shred the chicken

Carefully remove the cooked chicken breasts from the clay pot.

Let them cool just enough to handle, then shred the chicken with two forks.

Return the shredded chicken to the soup and stir.

4. Add the pasta

Stir in the ditalini.

Continue cooking until the pasta is just tender, generallyabout 10–15 minutes, checking it periodically so it doesn't become too soft.

If the soup has become thicker than you'd like, add a little additional hot chicken broth.

5. Finish with fresh parsley

Stir in the chopped parsley.

Taste the broth and adjust the salt and pepper as needed.

Ladle into bowls and finish with additional parsley and freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

VitaClay Tip

For the best leftovers, consider cooking the pasta separately.

Pasta continues absorbing broth as soup sits in the refrigerator. If you're making a large batch for several meals, cook the ditalini separately and add it to each bowl when serving. You'll retain more broth and the pasta won't become overly soft.

You can also leave the pasta out altogether for a lighter chicken-and-vegetable soup.

A Cozy One-Pot Dinner

What makes this soup so appealing is its balance: juicy chicken and potatoes make it substantial, tomatoes provide brightness, carrots and bell peppers add natural sweetness, and the combination of black and white pepper gives the broth its signature warmth.

And in VitaClay, most of the work happens right inside the clay pot.

One pot. Real ingredients. A warming homemade dinner without spending the evening at the stove.

 

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