Chicken Parmesan Soup

When out to dinner a few nights ago, the soup of the day was "Chicken Parmesan". Sounded delicious, so that is what I ordered. Unfortunately, I wasn't pleased with it. Couldn't really find any chicken in it, and the soup base pretty much tasted like tomato sauce. I was disappointed. However, it got me to thinking... if I was going to make Chicken Parmesan Soup - how would I do it. So, here you go - my version - fairly quick and full of flavor!

Chicken Parmesan Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces (or you could use chicken breasts)
1 cup Italian Style bread crumbs
½ tsp garlic powder
3 Tbls shredded Parmesan cheese
Olive oil for frying the chicken (maybe 4 - 6 Tbls)

Place enough olive oil in soup pot to fry the chicken; heat thoroughly.

Into a Ziplock bag, place bread crumbs, garlic powder, and Parmesan. Shake well to combine. Put chicken pieces into bag and shake well to coat. (Save remaining bread crumb mixture. It will be added into the soup later on.)

Fry the chicken pieces in batches in the oil until browned and cooked through. Remove from pot and drain on paper towels.

Soup Ingredients:

1 white onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup red wine
3 – 28 oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes
28 oz chicken broth
1 – 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 Tbls of oregano
Handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 tsp sugar
Parmesan Cheese for garnish

After removing last batch of chicken from pot, add onions and garlic to the remaining olive oil. Cook for several minutes until translucent. Add wine to deglaze pan.

Add cans of tomatoes. Break tomatoes apart with spoon or fork. (You could use the diced tomatoes if you prefer. I just prefer the consistency of using the whole tomatoes.) Fill one of the tomato cans with chicken broth; add to the pot. Add can of tomato sauce. Cook until bubbles begin to form.

Add the oregano, bread crumb mixture and sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add basil; stir to mix in. Return the chicken pieces to the pot. Cook for another minute or two.

Serve in bowls with generous amounts of shredded Parmesan cheese on top.