Chicken soup with pasta

I don’t know why it is, but on Sunday’s, I really become lazy. Maybe it is because most Saturday nights I have my neighbors over for dinner, and sometimes it goes late. Whatever the reason, I don’t get much done on Sundays. This past Sunday, I did a few chores in the morning after my newsletter, and then spent most of the day with a book, reading by the window.

Early afternoon, I decided to make a chicken soup. I had meaty chicken bones, that were left after I carved the chicken for dinner Saturday. Since I was only making soup for me (about four servings), that was enough. This is a two part soup. First I make a stock out of the bones, then I pick the meat out of the strained bones, and make a soup with the meat and the stock. Here’s how I did that.

Meaty carcass of a roast chicken

2 quarts of water

1 large bay leaf

Adobo seasoning

1/4 cup of onion flakes

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Oregano

Olive oil

1 large carrot, chopped

2 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. Hungarian paprika

1/2 tsp. ground savory

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

1 tsp. flour

1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce

Fresh ground white pepper

Pinch of saffron

1 cup of lasagna noodles, broken up into small pieces

Preparation

Step one is to make the stock. Place all of the chicken bones, with the meat attached in a dutch oven. Add at least two quarts of water, then add the bay leaf, a generous sprinkle of adobo seasoning or seasoned salt, the onion flakes, the garlic powder, and about a half teaspoon of the oregano. Bring that to a  boil, reduce to a bare simmer, and simmer partially covered, for at least an hour.

Once that flavorful stock is ready, and all the vegetables are chopped, strain the stock into a bowl. Let the chicken bones cool. When it is cool enough to handle, go through and pick off all the meat and set it in a small bowl. Pick through the bones carefully because there is a lot more meat in there than you think. Once you get all the meat off, you are ready to start on the soup.

Put the dutch oven back on the stove, and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the carrots, onion and celery. Stir and let that sizzle until it softens. Add the chicken and sprinkle on the, savory, paprika, poultry seasoning and flour. Stir until everything is sizzling, and then add in the chicken stock. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and the saffron. Let that simmer for an hour, partially covered.

Taste and adjust the soup. Mine needed more adobo, white pepper, and even a few onion flakes. I also added another teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce for a little depth in the flavor. When everything is right, stir in the broken lasagna noodles, simmer for twenty minutes and you are ready to serve. 

Serving

I served this very simply. I had a loaf of white bread made with honey, that was still hot from the oven, which I sliced thickly and slathered with butter … and several bowls of this soup. Simple but good.