chicken soup

i love chicken soup! and i know it's the middle of summer but i made it anyway. there are lots of different ways to go about prepping the stock and the chicken. you need a lot of flavor in both if you want the soup to turn out well. sounds obvious, but i have still seen recipes with people using water and only white meat chicken...you could do that and it would still turn out alright, but investing the time into making your own stock and roasting a chicken IS THE BEST.

start by prepping the chicken. you can get away with skipping this step and getting a rotisserie from the grocery store if you don't feel like cooking all day. it's nice to roast your own bird, though. for something like this i would do a simple preparation. zest and juice 2 lemons (stuff the lemons along with onion peels and other flavorful vegetable ends you have lying around for stock into the cavity), generously coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast until your meat thermometer reaches 165. shred all the meat and set aside, and then put the carcass in a big stock pot and cover it with water. add aforementioned vegetable ends and simmer, covered, for a few hours. for a basic stock you only need carrots, onion, celery, salt, and pepper. but i've used tons of other things. the stems of fresh herbs like parsley, radishes, garlic peels, etc.

now you're ready to make the soup!

i finely dice and then saute carrots, onion, and celery. after 5-10 minutes add your stock, chicken, and herbs + spices. let is simmer for about thirty minutes and then add your pasta, continuing to cook until the noodles are al dente. serve topped with fresh parsley and parmesan (plus crusty french bread on the side obviously).

ingredients:

1 onion
5 carrots
3 celery stems and leaves
1/2 pound fettuccine
7 cups chicken stock
1 shredded chicken
3 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp fresh parsley (one tbsp for garnish)
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
salt
pepper
parmesan (freshly grate onto soup just before serving)

if you decide to use store bought stock you'll probably need to adjust your seasoning. you'll need more fresh herbs and less salt. i think a coarse pesto made with arugula and pecans would be a great garnish instead of parsley. or maybe a pesto with parsley? if you're going to the trouble of roasting the chicken and making the stock you might as well do that too!