Chicken Noodle Soup

One of my favourite hobbies as well as cooking is to read. I love fiction set in real times and a favourite read, a few years ago was the trilogy by Maisie Mosco about Jewish immigrants who settled in Britain in 1900, their struggle as they tried to get work and housing and put up with the bad weather in England and sometimes terrible hatred and treatment by the English who were ignorant of their ways and religion.

I loved the descriptions of Jewish ceremonies like Rosh Hashanah and the sweet foods that were served to symbolise the return of good things in the coming year!

 One savoury recipe that always stuck out was for when somebody was ill. Known as the 'Jewish penicillin,' Chicken Noodle soup always sounded comforting and the idea of noodles in a soup, filling and tasty. There is talk that its good for the soul and as you catch the aroma, especially when suffering with a cold, I can quite believe it.

 Heinz Chicken Noodle soup was the only soup I ate as a child, back then I was a fussy thing and I liked the clearness and taste, however I just knew it would never be as good as homemade.

I always wanted to make it and never did, back then it was probably a cheaper dish than it is now, as I eat free range chicken, I tend to use all the meats in a meal and somehow considered add the meat to a soup would be  a waste.

However since joining Slimming World, investing in a large stock pot to make soups for lunches that are filling and full of superfree foods I have realised that the soups are or can be just as filling as any plate of food, in fact more so.

 I spotted a slimming world chicken noodle soup recipe made by a member called honeyoc on Minimins, its a forum for people on various diet and healthy eating plans. On the Slimming World forum, there are some fabulous recipes adapted to remove fats and sugars but retain a good dish.

 I knew I had to make it and in fact realised how cheaply it can be made. It uses the leftover bones  from a  chicken, I use two, for extra flavour.

The secret to any soup is getting a good stock/base first and this is simplicity itself to make. You will  need a monster pan!

The scent of chicken, onions, rosemary and thyme is just part of the joy of this soup, you feel you are already dining way before you tuck in.

I don't aim to make the Jewish version yet, I do intend to make one of those soon too. There are versions with meatballs in which sound fabulous.

I also am fond of West Indian food and have added cornmeal dumplings, yam and potatoes to this to really make a substantial meal.

So here is the recipe

2 roast chicken carcasses from Sunday lunch. I freeze one until I have a couple. No skin if you want to avoid the fat. 

Chicken meat. Remove any meat for use in the soup.
2 celery stalks
1 large carrots
1  onions
4 cloves garlic

A good handful of fresh thyme
A good handful of fresh rosemary, parsley is more traditional but I'm not keen! Sage is good too.
2 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns
2 Knorr Stock pots or good stock (optional)

Salt and pepper

For the soup

Chicken meat

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

Egg or angel hair noodles. (Spaghetti if you prefer)

Alternative serving suggestion

West Indian dumplings, yam, sweet potato, corn on the cob or potato.

How to make it!

To make the stock, pick whatever bits of chicken from the roast chicken carcass and set aside to add to the soup at the end.

Roughly chop the garlic, onion and one carrot.

snap in half 2 celery stalks.

Put the chicken bones in a pot and top with 1.5 litres of water, add the stock cube, veggies and herbs and bring to the boil.

Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer for an hour.

Drain and reserve the stock. Discarding all the solids.

If there is any fat on the surface skim it off, either refrigerate so the fat solidifies and you can scoop it out or if you have a clever little separator jug use that.

Your stock is now ready to be used for the soup.

For the soup finely chop the remaining onion, peel and slice the carrot, and slice the celery.

  In a large pan, sauté the vegetables in Frylight or your choice of oil until softened. Add the stock and adjust the seasoning to taste.

Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the noodles and chicken and cook for another 5 minutes, if using pasta follow the packet timings.

Serve and enjoy!