Crockpot Pastina Soup (Italian Penicillin Soup)

Directions - Place chicken in a slow cooker. Add onion, celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Pour in bone broth and water. Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or until carrots are very tender.

Directions - With slow cooker still on High, use a spoon or small sieve and remove any impurities or foam that have risen to the surface, if desired. Remove chicken from the slow cooker and set aside.

Directions - Use a strainer or slotted spoon to remove all of the onions, carrots, and celery and transfer the vegetables to a blender. Add in 1 cup of liquid from the slow cooker. Remove the center of the blender cap to allow for ventilation and place a towel loosely over the opening. Blend until smooth. Pour mixture back into the slow cooker. Add a little water or stock if necessary to the blender to rinse and add any residual veggie mixture.

Cook's Note - Alternatively to using a blender in Step 3, you can use an immersion blender to carefully blend vegetables and broth inside the slow cooker until smooth.

Directions - Stir pasta into the slow cooker, cover, and cook on High until pasta is tender and soup has thickened slightly, 35 to 45 minutes. Soup will continue to thicken as it sits. Add more stock or water if desired.

Directions - Meanwhile, remove chicken from the bones and chop into small pieces.

Directions - Stir chicken into the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.