On a cold day, you just have to have chicken noodle soup. There are a few things I don’t like about canned / store bought chicken noodle soup:
- Too salty (used as a preservative)
- Noodles get soggy
- Noodles don’t fit on a spoon – inefficient
- Chicken is cubed and doesn’t even look like chicken
So my solution is to make chicken noodle soup from scratch. It is well worth it.
First thing is first, get the stock started. Buy a whole cut-up chicken (or a whole chicken and cut it up yourself). I usually omit the neck, since I can be squeamish. Don’t forget to season the chicken with salt and pepper.
| 1 whole | cut up chicken |
| 1 tablespoon | salt & pepper |
In your stock pot begin to brown the chicken pieces. Start with the breasts and then after 3 minutes add the rest of the pieces. It takes about 5 minutes. The goal is to brown the chicken, not cook it all the way through. Depending on the size of your pan you may need to do it in two batches.
| 1 tablespoon | vegetable oil |
| 1 | carrot |
| 4 sprigs | celery (+ leaves) |
| 1 | white onion |
| 1 sprig | rosemary |
| 1 sprig | sage |
| 1 sprig | thyme |
Next add the cold water, peppercorns, bay leaves, herbs, and chicken. Set to medium heat and bring to a boil.
| small handful | peppercorns |
| 10-12 cups | cold water |
| 2 | bay leaves |
| 1 box | bow tie pasta |
Add equal parts of broth mixture to pasta in each bowl.