Chicken Noodle Soup
It’s chicken noodle soup season!! And, not only because I’m looking out at the three feet of snow we got from Jonas this weekend (also affectionately known as “Snowzilla2016” and “Snomageddon2016”).
The last time we saw anything like this in Maryland, it was because of the “twin blizzards” of 2010. It’s snow joke. (Ha-ha)
Chicken Noodle Soup
Winter’s the best time for soups and stews, simmering away stove-top or in a slow cooker. Makes you all warm and cozy just thinking about how comforting a steamy mugful is, right?
I have about 20 cups of chicken stock stored in my freezer after a few times of making overnight slow cooker chicken stock.
TWENTY CUPS!
(That’s a lot of chicken stock.)
It’s come in handy to have heaps of chicken stock in the freezer—there’s no need to buy chicken broth anymore, or keep cans stocked in my pantry. It only takes 10 minutes to thaw out one of my 2-cup portioned bags, which means I don’t even need the foresight to set something out the night before. Shew! I’m horrible at that.
It’s the right kinda day for chicken noodle soup.
It’s chilly and we have mountains of drifted snow to shovel, hoping to at least get one vehicle unearthed before the day’s over. And other than playing in the snow, there are no plans for today—which is good since I’m not sure we could get out anyway, or should if we wanted to (lots of work to still be done on the main roads).
So, homemade chicken noodle soup it is. With my slow cooker commandeered for homemade applesauce all day, I used my second favorite slow cooking device: the Dutch oven.
I’m making this soup with frozen homemade chicken stock and a chicken quarter I braised beforehand, but it could easily be made by substituting store-bought chicken stock or broth, and a rotisserie chicken for the meat.
HOWEVER, I think the reason this soup tastes SO good in such a short amount of time, is because of my homemade chicken stock. The layers of flavor that develop overnight when I make chicken stock in the slow cooker are unmatched by anything in a can.
Having said that, if you choose to forgo the homemade stock (which is perfectly fine), you may want to let the soup simmer for 45 minutes to an hour before adding the pasta and finishing it up.
Lemme tell ya, I might be more excited for the leftovers than anything! This kinda food gets better and better the longer it sits…
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 6 small mushrooms, diced
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- ½ pound dry linguine, broken into 2″ pieces
- Saute the carrots, onion, mushroom and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Once the onion is translucent (about 3-4 minutes), add the chicken, parsley, salt and pepper. Continue to saute the chicken and veggies for another minute.
- Pour the chicken stock in all at once and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the linguine, reduce the heat to keep the liquid at a boil, and continue cooking the soup at least 11 minutes so the pasta is done.
- At this point, you can serve the soup as-is, or you can reduce the heat to low and keep it covered until you’re ready to eat later. If you wait, the pasta will get softer (maybe even a little mushy), but in soup that’s not so bothersome – at least that’s what my family thinks!
