Roast Chicken & Noodle Soup

If you have a roast chicken for dinner, there is always a bit left over and of course you have the bones. This recipe is a great way to get another meal from those leftover bits and get the satisfaction of making something rich, warming and delicious from scratch for your family.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken Stock (this is the base of your soup):

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 chicken carcass picked clean of meat and cut into pieces
• 10 cups water
• 1 large carrots roughly chopped
• 1 celery sticks roughly chopped (use the twiggy bits from the top- not the leaves)
• 1/2 large onion roughly chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme

Roast Chicken Noodle Soup

• 2 large carrots chopped
• 2 celery ribs chopped
• 1/2 onion diced
• ½ tsp dried mixed herbs
• ½ cup risoni or orzo pasta
• 1 200g pack of Vermicelli Rice noodles
• 2 cups cooked chicken shredded or chopped
• Salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Use a large pot – I use my big cast iron casserole dish. Heat oil over medium-high heat and add chicken carcass pieces and cook, turning occasionally, until bones and any remaining skin are browned. There will be bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. These are the yummy tasty bits!

Add a splash of the water to deglaze the pan and scrape all the browned bits off the bottom. Add the vegetables, water, and salt. Bring to barely a simmer (watch closely to make sure it never comes to a boil as that can make your soup cloudy).

Simmer for 90 minutes, scraping fat off the top occasionally, and checking to make sure your broth has not started to boil.

Discard large pieces of bone and vegetable before straining broth through a strainer. Rinse your pot to remove any chicken or vegetable remnants (there is often gritty bits left behind) and return broth to pot. Bring to a simmer and add carrots, celery, onion, risoni pasta and herbs. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Stir in the Vermicelli Rice noodles and chicken last (these don’t need cooking, they will soak up the broth and be ready in 5 mins).

Add more salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute to make sure the chicken is heated through.

Enjoy xx