We recently had a cold snap here in Texas, so I was craving something warm and decided to try my hand at Chicken Noodle Soup. Just like most of the things I make, you combine the basic ingredients (chicken, stock, noodles, and veggies) then you enhance it by adding flavor with herbs and adjust to your taste.
You basically cook this in 2 parts. You cook the veggies and stock together and cook the chicken in the oven. Then combine everything in the pot and add the pasta. Less stock, more pasta makes it thick like a stew or pasta dish. More stock, less pasta makes it more like a soup. Add as many vegetables and type that you like. This is a great way to sneak some veggies in (the smaller the dice the less they will notice). ENJOY!
Ingredients:
- Boneless chicken breasts
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Chicken or beef stock
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onion
- Olive oil
- Mini pasta shells (any shape – I used mini penne)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Drizzle a little bit of olive oil in the bottom of a soup pot.
- Roughly chop the celery and carrots (about the same size)
- Add celery and carrots to soup pot.
- Grate some onion directly into the pot. You will get bits of onion along with the juice. (my family isn’t big on biting into pieces of onion, so this is a way to get more onion flavor)
- Add a little bit of stock so the veggies don’t burn.
- Cook until the veggies begin to soften.
- Chop up some rosemary and thyme and add to pot.
- While the veggies are cooking, split the chicken breasts in half lengthwise (so they cook quicker)
- Place chicken, sprigs of rosemary and thyme, and a little bit of stock to a glass ovenproof dish. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the top.
- Cook chicken for about 30 minutes (until done)
- While the chicken is cooking add more stock to the veggies. Add enough so you will be able to cook the pasta in it.
- Once the chicken is done, cut it up in bite size pieces. Add to pot with the veggies.
- Add pasta to the pot to finish cooking with the chicken and veggies. (add as much pasta as you would like)
- Allow to cook for about 7-10 minutes until pasta is done. Add additional stock if the pasta has absorbed it all.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve while hot along with a biscuit, roll, or grilled cheese sandwich.
