Artichoke and Chicken Chowder

After a fun morning of snowshoeing in the beautiful Colorado mountains, our good friend Wendy Bergen treated us to a scrumptious lunch at her beautiful mountain cabin. We had worked up quite an appetite, after trekking several miles in the spring snow! Since Wendy doesn’t cook, she served a Chicken and Artichoke Soup she purchased at The Cheesecake Factory, and we all loved it. A wonderful combination of flavors, including the addition of red bell pepper, onion, mushrooms and garlic to the artichoke and chicken – all swimming around in a cheesy sauce. YUM! This is my attempt at creating a similar recipe.

Here is a shot of our group and the fabulous scenery that surrounded us that morning:

(No, that isn’t Wendy’s cabin on the right – that is a miner’s cabin we found!). Enjoy –

Artichoke and Chicken Chowder

• Yield: 8 1x

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 large red pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
• 2 large celery stalks, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 8 ounces mushroom caps (white or cremini/baby bella*)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 4 cups chicken stock (or more to thin if needed)
• 2 cups peeled and chopped Yukon potatoes
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken, mixture of white and dark meat
• 1 can (14 ounce) quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained and coarsely chopped
• 2 cups milk (whole or 2 percent)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Melt butter a large stockpot over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, red pepper, celery and thyme and cook until vegetables are tender.
2. Stem the mushrooms and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Add to onion mixture and continue cooking for around 5 minutes.
3. Add the white wine, chicken stock, potatoes and chicken and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in artichoke hearts.
5. Place milk in a medium mixing bowl and slowly sift the flour into the milk, whisking it in as you go. Slowly stir milk mixture into soup. Cook over medium heat until thick, around 15 minutes, stirring often.
6. Stir in cheese; add salt and pepper to taste. If soup is too thick, add additional broth.

Notes

*Cremini and Baby Bella are the same mushroom.

Variation: can substitute 2 cups of chopped raw chicken for the cooked chicken. Cook it together with the onion, red pepper and celery.