{Leftover} Pork Chop Soup

I occasionally find pork chops for a really good price, and when I do I tend to stock up on them. I usually portion them out pretty well - but sometimes we end up with extra pork chops from dinner and I'm not sure what to do with them.  I was really pleased with the way that this soup turned out. 

Leftover Pork Chop Soup

Source: Very loosely based on this soup from the Food Network. Although they cooked their pork chops separately and laid them on top of the soup when it was done and I chopped up my leftover pork chops and added them to the soup. 

Ingredients: 

1-2 leftover pork chops, cubed

3 tablespoons butter or oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 can tomato sauce
32 ounces vegetable broth*
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 large potato, skin on, sliced 1/8 inch and then into bite sized pieces**
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

(Notes: *I stock up on chicken broth and almost never have vegetable broth on hand. I know some people might frown on adding chicken broth to a pork dish - but I din't mind, that's what I use for just about everything. **When I made this soup, I also had leftover potatoes from the pork dish that I made. I just chopped those up and added them as well and it turned out perfectly.)

Direction:
In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter/heat oil and saute carrots, celery and onion until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the flour to the vegetables and blend well. Cook the flour until it achieves a slight blonde color. Next, stir in the tomato sauce and allow to slightly cook, about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in broth while stirring and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and add the can of diced tomatoes and the potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add the cubed pork chops to soup and simmer until warmed through.