Chicken "Noodle" Soup

Cough...Sniff...Ach-OOO... Yep, the flu that has been going around at work has finally caught up with us. When Adrienne texted me yesterday to say she wasn't feeling well, I was already feeling kinda funky myself. After I got off work, I knew what I had to do. I threw a chicken, some celery, carrots and kale into my shopping basket and headed home. I swirled together a quick chicken stock in one pot, sauteed my veg in another, and in about an hour and a half I had a big steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup ready to eat.

We've replaced most of our white flour pasta reserves with whole wheat pasta. For awhile now I've been getting pasta from Litteri's and this past weekend we drove over to their market with one goal in mind: a couple of their hot and simple meatball subs. We came home with subs, yes, but we also ended up with a big box of goodies including more pasta, wine, cheese, canned tomatoes, anchovy paste, a squeeze bottle of roasted yellow pepper finishing sauce, and more. Definitely check this place out if you're in DC, but beware... you could go as crazy as we did!

Anyway, so, when I was rummaging around in the pantry, I came across these whole wheat pasta shells to use in the soup instead typical noodles. I like shells because they give the soup a satisfying toothy bite plus they're small enough to spoon in one bite with less slurping than traditional noodles.

The upside is that whole wheat pasta is better for you; the downside is that the pasta tends to break up after soaking in the broth for awhile. You could certainly cook the pasta separately and add it to individual bowls to keep it intact, but I just let the pasta do what it was going to do.

There's nothing better than a big steaming bowl of brothy soup on a cold day to warm you down to your toes. And if you're feeling a little under the weather, this traditional chicken soup with a little noodle twist is bound to soothe your aching throat.

Now where'd I put that big box of tissues?

Chicken "Noodle" Soup
Makes 6 servings

8 cups chicken stock (see below for recipe if making your own)
2 lbs chicken breast and leg quarters
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup onions, small dice
1 cup kale, chopped in short ribbons (I like Dinosaur Kale)
1 cup whole wheat pasta shells (or whatever pasta you like)
salt and pepper to taste hot sauce to taste (optional)

Quick Chicken Stock

2 lbs chicken breast and thighs, skin removed
1 onion, halved
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black pepper
water to cover, about 8 cups

1. Make a quick chicken stock by adding raw chicken, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves and pepper to a stock pot and cover with water, about 8 cups. Bring to a near boil then turn down and simmer for an hour. Skim stock of as much fat as possible, then strain stock and reserve chicken pieces. When chicken has cooled, cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

2. Alternately, if you are using prepared chicken stock, put raw chicken into the cold stock and bring just to a boil. Cover, turn off heat, and let sit for about ten minutes. Pull out cooked chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

3. While the stock simmers, saute onion, celery, and carrot in olive oil in a dutch oven on low until soft but not browned. Add stock, cooked chicken, kale, pasta and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.

Minestrone di Riccobono

We are pleased to introduce our good friend Jennifer Riccobono as our guest blogger this week. Her husband Pete makes excellent minestrone and they were generous enough to share it with the world! Read on...

“My family has dinner on Sundays. Do you want to come to my parents’ house and join us this week?”

“I’d love to. Do you know what they’re having so I can bring something?”

“Oh, you don’t have to bring anything. And we have red sauce every Sunday.”

“Red sauce?”

“Mm, hmm.”

“What’s red sauce?”

…Blank stare. And then, “Red sauce. You know, with pasta. Probably sausages and stuff.”

“Do you mean like, spaghetti sauce? Tomato sauce?”

“Yeah, red sauce…”

So there it was; my introduction into Italian family life. Seven and a half years later, after a marriage and a move to our nation’s Capital, I barely remember calling red sauce by any other name and I’d argue to the death that the best place to buy a cannoli is in Brooklyn, NY.

Those Sunday dinners at my husband’s parents’ house taught me a few things about Italian American tradition and family dynamics. I am a foodie by nature and perhaps it’s no mistake that I married a chef, as my sister once noted. The culinary lines run deep in my husband’s family and Italian influence in many of the home cooked meals is a good thing. Preparations for many of the dishes are an all day event. They fill your home with the sublime smells of comfort and warmth giving your walls and chairs and tables a sense of dignity and a collective transition from house to home.

When we moved to this great city, I was fortunate enough to befriend some incredible people.Two of them are the proprietors of the Gracious Bowl, and they invited us to the first annual DC soup swap last month. As soup is one of my favorite treats I am a big fan of the Gracious Bowl blog, but had one problem.What soup are we (read: my darling husband Pete) going to make?

Since we would be sharing the soup with friends it seemed only natural to pick a soup that symbolized family warmth and casual comfort. Italian Minestrone was an obvious choice. The word Minestrone means “to dish up” or “to serve”. Traditionally filled with all the things in your kitchen you didn’t finish using for something else it exudes casual comfort. Bits and pieces of other meals created lovingly to serve to family and friends would have to have carried with them the positive energy of the dishes they were originally intended for.

So serve up this Minestrone di Riccobono (That’s right…Riccobono! Where you expecting Minestrone di Smith?) with some nice parmesan cheese and raise your wine glass to good family and good friends. Salute!

Minestrone di Riccobono
Serves 4

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped

6 cups low-salt chicken broth

1 – 3” Parmigiano Reggiano rind
2 carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), drained
2 tomatoes, peeled, crushed
2 cups green cabbage, chopped into 1 inch pieces

1 cup ditallini or other spoon sized pasta
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes.

2. Add broth and next 9 ingredients. Increase heat to high and bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, about 10 minutes.

3. Return to a boil and stir in pasta; boil until pasta is al dente, about 6-10 minutes longer.

4. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper and remove remains of Parmigiano rind. Ladle soup into 6 bowls; Serve, passing cheese separately.

Photo of the lovely Riccobonos by Joe Foley.