Spicy Chicken & Red Pepper Wonton Soup

To Make the Filling

Step 1: Remove meat from a cooled roasted chicken. Coarsely chopped meat into 1/4 inch chunks.

Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the chicken, ginger, about 3/4 of the spinach, eggs, shallots, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, and pepper flakes. Toss to mix well.

To Assemble Wontons

Step 3: Lay out 6-8 wrappers at a time. With your fingertip, lightly moisten the edge of each wrapper with egg white. Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each wrapper.

Step 4: Fold the wrapper over to form a rectangle; press edges together to seal. Crimp wrapper along the sealed long edge to form a pouch shape. As wontons are formed, place them on a lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat until all the filling is used. Refrigerate wontons until you are ready to cook them.

Step 5: Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large pot. Gently drop in the wontons, adding only as many as the pot will hold without crowding. Return to a gentle boil.

Step 6: Reduce heat to medium and simmer until wontons float and are cooked through, 3 - 5 minutes. Remove them to a large bowl and cover until all the wontons are cooked.

Step 7: Ladle hot stock and wontons into serving bowls. Garnish with bell pepper and reserved spinach.

NOTE: If you grow nasturtiums without using pesticides, the nasturtium leaves make a beautiful presentation if you decide to serve this to company. The nasturtiums are peppery in flavor and look like water-lily pads.

NOTE II: If you want to pump up the flavor of the chicken stock, for example, if using canned stock that tastes so-so, you may saute a small onion and 1 - 2 stalks of celery, that have been chopped up into small chunks, and sauteed in a small amount of butter or olive oil prior to adding the chicken stock.