good old chicken noodle soup

After all the over indulging last week, we’ve been all about soups and salads. One of my go-to meals after a period of excess (or when I’m feeling poorly) is good old chicken noodle soup. Light, comforting and simple to make, this will have you back on form in no time! It is a great use of leftover chicken – I usually buy a whole corn fed chicken, roast the legs for one dinner, grill the breasts for a salad the next evening and then toss the remaining carcass in a pot to make this soup. You can of course use a whole chicken if you want a heartier soup, and if you have any leftover vegetables knocking about in the fridge chuck them in as well, they will only help to intensify the flavour. I’ve used risoni (rice-shaped pasta) here but you can use any noodles you want – broken somen and spaghettini work particularly well.

Chicken Noodle Soup
serves 2 generously

1 chicken carcass (uncooked)
2-3 carrots
2 sticks of celery
1 parsnip (optional)
1 leek
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic (peeled)
1 bay leaf
bunch of parsley
handful of pasta or noodle of your choice
freshly ground black pepper
salt

Peel and half the carrots and parsnip. Chop the leek and celery into 2 inch sections and cut the onion into quarters. Place all the vegetables in a large stock pot together with the chicken, garlic, bay leaf and half the parsley. Fill with water until all the ingredients are covered, then bring to the boil. Once it reaches a boil, skim, then turn the heat right down and leave to gently simmer uncovered for 3 hours.

Remove from heat and drain liquid into a separate pot. Dice the carrots and shred chicken meat from the carcass and add both to the clear broth. Season to taste. Reheat over a high heat and once boiling add chosen pasta and cook until al dente (according to packet instructions). Finely chop the remaining parsley to garnish soup before serving.