Spanish Chicken and Rice Soup

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup broken vermicelli or thin spaghetti, 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup long-grain white rice
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 2 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast, rinsed
• 1 small white or yellow onion, peeled and halved
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 ounces Spanish chorizo, chopped or crumbled, casing removed (recommended: Gaspar's or Trois Petit Cochons)
• 1 large Spanish yellow onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• Few ribs celery from the heart, chopped
• 1 red chile pepper, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped or very thinly sliced
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup diced piquillo pepper or drained pimiento peppers
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch saffron threads (about 20)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked sweet or sweet paprika
• 1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted diced or crushed tomatoes or 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1. Place the butter in a small pot over medium heat.
2. Melt the butter and toast the pasta 2 to 3 minutes or until golden in color, add the rice and stir to coat.
3. Add 1 cup stock to the pot and bring the mixture to a bubble, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and cook 15 minutes.
4. Stir in parsley; turn off the heat and cover.
5. Let stand to cool.
6. Fluff the rice with a fork then place in container and store in the refrigerator.
7. Meanwhile, place the rinsed trimmed chicken pieces in a shallow pan with the onion and bay leaves and cover with just enough water to come up to the top of the chicken, bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer and gently poach to cook through, about 12 to 15 minutes.
8. Place the chicken in a bowl and shred the meat with 2 forks.
9. Reserve the stock.
10. While the chicken poaches start the soup by heating a Dutch oven over medium-high heat with a turn of the pan extra-virgin olive oil, add the chorizo and brown a couple of minutes.
11. Add the onions, carrot, celery, chile, garlic, and piquillos to the pot and season with a little salt and some black pepper.
12. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes to soften, then stir in the saffron threads and paprika to combine.
13. Strain the chicken cooking liquids, about 2 cups, into the pot then add 3 cups stock-in-a-box, chicken, chorizo, and tomatoes.
14. Bring the soup to a bubble, simmer a few minutes to combine flavors then cool completely, cover and place in the refrigerator for make-ahead meal.
15. To reheat and serve, place the soup over medium to medium-high heat covered, stirring occasionally until heated through.
16. Add the rice to the soup and return the soup to a bubble.
17. Serve in shallow bowls.

butter, vermicelli, longgrain white rice, chicken, chicken, white, parsley, bay leaves, extravirgin olive oil, spanish chorizo, spanish yellow onion, carrots, celery, red chile pepper, garlic, piquillo pepper, salt, saffron threads, paprika, tomatoes

Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/spanish-chicken-and-rice-soup-recipe.html (may not work)