the thin chef

Jason has been under the weather, all sniffles and coughs and sneezes. I don’t know about you, but when I have a cold, it’s hot, brothy soup that tastes the best to me. There’s some science behind chicken soup actually being beneficial for your immune system, but unscientifically, I just know that steamy soup, if only for a moment, clears the head and soothes the sniffles.

Jason came down with a cold at the tail end of our trip, so on Monday night, after a wonderful long weekend of delicious meals, raucous evenings, and {a little too much} fun in New York City, the boy needed some soup.

Chicken noodle soup can be made a hundred different ways with a hundred different ingredients, and this is my version. It’s more a guide than a recipe, as you can swap ingredients according to your tastes and what’s stocked in your fridge and pantry. But it’s so simple to make that even when you’re the one under the weather, you can still whip this up before plopping back on the couch under a mountain of tissues and blankets with your bowlful of goodness. Sip, slurp, and feel better.

Feel Better Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves 2 with leftovers

1 generous tablespoon olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 smallish stalks celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 big pinches coarse salt, divided
10 grinds ground black pepper
1 large sprig fresh thyme
2 large sprigs fresh dill
1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 to 1 cup dry white wine (optional)
1 bone-in chicken breast, skin removed or 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 small handfuls short-cut pasta, such as corkscrews, rotini, penne, seashells, orzo, or elbows

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat, and add the carrots, onion, and celery. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the garlic, a pinch of salt, and pepper; stir to combine. Cook until vegetables are soft and fragrant, but not brown. If the vegetables start to caramelize, turn the heat down.

Add the herb sprigs to the pot, and stir. Pour in the broth and wine (if using), cover, and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken breast, and dunk it so it’s covered in the broth. Put the lid on, and lower heat as necessary to make sure that the broth doesn’t boil. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes for boneless breasts and 15 minutes for bone-in breasts.

When chicken is cooked through, carefully remove it from the soup, and set aside on a cutting board. Taste the soup at this point, and add salt to taste, if needed. Add the pasta, and turn heat to medium-high. Stir.

While the pasta cooks, shred the chicken with 2 forks. Add the chicken back into the soup, and stir. Cook until pasta is tender. Find and remove the herb sprigs from the soup before serving.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 9:19 pm and is filed under basic techniques, chicken, comfort food, soup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.