Chicken Noodle Soup

Great soup starts with a great stock, and great stock starts with a roast chicken.  When making a whole bird, save the bones and skin for the base of what is going to be the best chicken broth ever.

For the stock you will need:

Bones and skin of 1 whole roast chicken

2 leeks

2 onions

4 carrots

4 celery stalks

A few sprigs of fresh thyme 

A few sprigs of fresh Italian parsley

1 bay leaf

6 cloves of garlic

About a dozen peppercorns

2 tablespoons of salt

Once you make the stock you can reserve some in the freezer and use the rest for the soup.  For awesome homemade chicken noodle soup you will need:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced

1/2 onion, chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

5 cups of chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

2 cups cooked chicken (from the awesome roast chicken from the night before)

1/2 lb egg noodles (I made them from scratch, but you could of course use store bought)

Salt and pepper to taste

Italian parsley for garnish, chopped

If you are making homemade pasta, you will need:

2 eggs

1/2 tablespoon water

1 3/4 cups sifted flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

After enjoying the awesome roast chicken, reserve a couple of cups for the soup.  You could dice it, but it's best to use your hands and shred the chicken.

To get started on the stock, place the carcass, skin, and bones in a roasting pan and broil for about 15 or 20 minutes.

Make sure to rinse the vegetables really well.  If you are not used to cooking with leeks, slice them lengthwise and rinse under water with the green sides down.  Separate the sections to remove any grit.  Roughly chop the carrots, celery (including the leaves), and leeks.  

Quarter the onions and smash the garlic, dont worry about any skins since you are going to strain the stock anyways.  

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil, onions, leeks, carrots, celery, and garlic.  Cook the vegetables down for about 8 minutes.

While the veggies sweat, the bones should be about done.

Add the bones, herbs, peppercorns, salt, and bay leaf to the pot.

Cover the veggies (over by 1 /12 inches) with water.

Simmer the stock uncovered for about 2 hours.  Check the stock periodically and spoon off any foam or fat that rises to the top.

After a couple of hours, strain the broth.  You should have twice as much stock as you need for the soup.  I usually add the stock into separate, small storage containers.  A lot of recipes call for a couple of cups of stock and you can't beat having the homemade kind on hand.  

I made the stock on Monday, reserved in the fridge, and then finished the soup on Tuesday.  If you are using store bought noodles then you can have a delicious dinner ready in only about 20 minutes.  My soup took a bit longer since I made egg noodles from scratch.  

I made a half recipe of the pasta in the stand mixer which comes together really quickly.  Just add the ingredients into the mixing bowl and beat for 30 seconds.

Swap out the beater for the dough hook and knead for 2 minutes on speed 2.

Remove the dough from the bowl and hand knead on a dry, floured board for a minute or two.  Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

While the dough rests, prep the vegetables for the soup.

I typically like wide egg noodles in my soup so I used the pasta roller to make sheets.

Then I cut the sheets by hand with the pizza roller.

Make sure to flour the noodles as you go so they don't stick.

Heat the olive oil in a stock pot or dutch oven.  Add the veggies and sweat for about 10 minutes.

Then add the stock, bay leaf, thyme and chicken.

Bring the soup to a boil and add the noodles.  Fresh noodles only take a couple of minutes to cook.  Make sure to taste the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper, garnish each bowl with parsley.

Viola!  Homemade chicken noodle soup.