Chonky Chicken Noodle Soup

I don't know about you, but I like my soups hearty, even bites of vegetables, chicken, noodles. That classic stick to your ribs stuff. One of my favorite soups is gumbo and basically what I did for this recipe is take those cooking techniques and implemented them on classic chicken noodle soup ingredients.

Chonky Chicken Nood Soup

Ingredients:

  • 4 TBSP Butter (~52 g)

  • 6 TBSP Flour (~52 g)

  • 1/2 onion, diced

  • 1 medium carrot, peeled, diced

  • 2 celery stalks, diced

  • 1 parsnip, diced

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 32 oz chicken stock (~960 ml)

  • 1/8 cup white wine (~30 ml)

  • 1 sprig of thyme (rosemary or other aromatic herbs work well too)

  • 6 to 8 oz cubed Leftover roasted chicken (170 g - 230 g)

  • 1 serving cooked egg noodles or pastina (56 g)

  • Coarse Kosher Salt to Taste - Very important, see step 6

  • Fresh Ground Pepper to Taste

Method:

  1. Prepare your mise en place. Cut up the vegetables and chicken, gather all of the other ingredients.

  2. Create the roux, by heating the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let the butter bubble a little bit to cook off some of the water in the butter (30 seconds) then add the flour and stir for a couple minutes until it smells like a pie crust.

  3. Add in the diced onions, carrot, celery, parsnip and garlic with a 4 finger pinch of salt. Stir and cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are softened.

  4. Add the chicken stock and white wine and stir to combine. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil while stirring. Add in the sprig of thyme, reduce the heat to low and let simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. This will cook out the starchy grainy texture of the roux. If after thirty minutes the soup still feels grainy, continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes while stirring lightly.

  5. Meanwhile, boil a pot of salted water (1 TBSP for 1/2 gallon of water). Cook and drain your egg noodles or pastina pasta.

  6. Once the soup is seasoned, remove the sprig of thyme and stir in the cooked noodles and leftover roasted chicken.

  7. TASTE & SEASON THE SOUP. Add coarse kosher salt and pepper to taste. We have not added much salt to this point so it will likely need more than you think.

  8. To serve, ladle into a warmed soup bowl and garnish with freshly chopped parsley.

Ethan Chlebowski