Hearty Turkey Soup

At a cold -25°C thought it would be a good turkey soup kind of day. So I hauled the turkey carcass saved from Christmas out of the freezer and got to work.

Ingredients:

Turkey carcass

3 bay leaves

4 or 5 quarts of water

2 carrots 

2 onions

1 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes

a handful of fresh parsley, chopped 

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp fresh minced ginger

1/2 tsp ground cumin 

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp Mrs Dash Original

Black pepper to taste 

3/4 cup ditali pasta or other small pasta

Put the turkey bones in a stock pot with enough water to cover them. Add 2 bay leaves and bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Remove the larger bones to a plate. Place a piece of cheesecloth over a large bowl, secured to the rim with clothespins or tie string around. Then ladle or pour the rest of the broth into the bowl. Once you have all the small bones, pieces of gristle and bay leaves strained out put the clear broth back in the stock pot. When the bones are cold enough to handle remove the remaining turkey meat and add  that back to the broth. Discard the bones (they've done their work!) Now add diced carrots and onions to the soup, along with another bay leaf, canned tomatoes, parsley and all the seasonings. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 1 hour or until the carrots are tender. Taste to adjust seasonings. In a small pot cook the ditali pasta. Once the soup is ready add the cooked and drained pasta to the pot of soup.

Ready to serve with a good crusty bread. You can even freeze some for another time since this makes a really big pot of hearty turkey soup.

NOTE: You can also freeze plain turkey broth in containers or ziplok bags for use in other recipes.

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