Recipe Found on Real Headstone—For Generations of Love

Valerie C. Volpe’s Chicken Soup

When a favorite recipe becomes a family tradition, the dish and the love behind it live on for generations. Some families even choose to remember loved ones by engraving their signature recipe onto their gravestone.

Valerie C. Volpe was “a lady raised by a lady” and was a beloved daughter, mother, wife, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend. Volpe passed away in 2016, and her famous chicken soup recipe is inscribed right from her recipe card at the top of her headstone. The comforting chicken soup recipe has two flavor additions I hadn’t tried before. Adding parsnips and turnips to the recipe gives the dish a subtle earthy flavor that perfectly complements the savory chicken.

Valerie’s Chicken Soup
This makes 1 large pot or 2 nice sized pots.
1 Perdue oven stuffer (1 whole chicken, about 6 lbs) cut in 10 pieces
1 small parsnip
1 small turnip
2 stalks of celery
4 carrots
Parsley
Half leaf
Dill
Salt

Clean the chicken. Cover with cold water. Add salt, celery, carrots, parsnip, and turnip.
Bring the pot to a boil.
As it boils, skim the fat off the top. Keep skimming fat until gone.
Add the leafy vegetables while you are skimming.
Reduce the heat and cook the soup for about 2 ½ hours.