It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s right… you guessed it. It’s Fall!! And I just made the most perfect soup to usher in these cooler Autumnal days. It is loaded with cheese-filled sacchetti, perfectly poached chicken, creamy broth, and tons of Italian flavors like basil, oregano, and fennel. Plus, there’s bacon. In fact, that’s how the soup starts out. By first cooking the bacon until crispy goodness, the veggies are able to cook in the liquid gold that is bacon fat, giving the soup a smoky undertone. I recently discovered sacchetti noodles and they are the perfect little pockets of cheesy goodness to add some heartiness to the soup. A little pour of heavy cream at the end of cooking adds a bit of creaminess. Happy Fall!

Creamy Italian Soup with Cheese Sacchetti, Bacon, and Fennel

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts poached in 2 cups of chicken broth (or one Rotisserie chicken, shredded)
• 4 slices Applewood Smoked Bacon, cut with scissors into 1-inch pieces
• 1 fennel bulb, core and stems discarded and chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons each of dried basil and dried oregano
• Salt and Pepper
• 16 oz. Cheese Sacchetti or Cheese Tortellini
• 10 oz. baby spinach
• ½ cup heavy cream
• Parmesan cheese and crusty bread, for serving

Directions:

1. To poach chicken breasts, place in a small pot along with 2 cups of broth. Bring to boil over med-high heat. Lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10-15 min, until a thermometer inserted into the chicken registers 165 degrees. Remove chicken from pot, allow to sit until cool enough to handle and shred meat into bite size pieces. Alternatively, just buy a rotisserie chicken and shred the meat. 
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot or Dutch oven, cook bacon until crispy. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Leave bacon fat in the pan.
3. Add fennel, carrots, and sliced garlic to the pot and cook 6-8 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
4. Add broth, dried basil and oregano, and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for 5-6 minutes. 
5. Add cheese sacchetti or tortellini and cook for 10 minutes, or until pasta is tender.
6. Stir in spinach, poached chicken and heavy cream and cook for 2 minutes, until soup is heated through. Remove from heat and divide among individual serving bowls. Top each serving with crispy bacon and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Serve with crusty bread, for dipping. Enjoy!