Homemade Turkey Soup

ingredients

To make turkey stock: Remove any large pieces of turkey from carcass and refrigerate to use for sandwiches or other turkey leftover dish. Save any smaller pieces for the soup. Cut the remaining carcass into small enough pieces to fit into a large stock pot. Throw in the wings if you still have them. Cover with water by about an inch. Add a chunk of any/all of onion, carrots and celery to the pot as well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2-4 hours. Drain stock through a fine strainer into a large bowl and reserve stock.

Pick through boiled bones and remove any good turkey meat, being careful to avoid getting any bones or other hard, nasty bits. Place picked and saved turkey pieces into a Dutch oven, slow cooker or large pot.

Add the following ingredients to the pot:

6-8 cups of the turkey stock (I usually just use all that I made)
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
2 carrots, cut into thin, bite-sized rounds (if you have leftover cooked carrots, wait and add them to the finished soup then just warm through. Leftover cooked peas or beans can also be added in this way, as well.)
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix (If you don't have any on hand, saute some chopped onions in pan until softened before adding other ingredients, but it's worth getting some soup mix, as it really adds a lot of flavour to this soup)
1-1/2 - 2 cups pasta (shells or macaroni work well)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste

method

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots and pasta are cooked.