Nonna's Chicken Soup

Nothing says yummy like a fresh pot of grandma's chicken noodle soup. Delicious and nutritious. The vegetables are cooked to tender so even those struggling to chew can bite into this dish. My Grandma Quinzi used to make this soup many years ago and I have used the recipe ever since. This was and still is Nick's favorite dish.

Ingredients:

5 lb Chicken fryer (diced after poached)
2 large carrots* peeled and thinly sliced on an angle
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced on an angle (leafy tops optional)
1 bunch green onions (leeks) - trimmed, soaked and dried, sliced
Salt and finely ground black pepper (to taste) 
1-2 Tbsp Parsley (to taste) or a few sprigs of fresh parsley

Rice or noodles of choice optional (make rice or noodles according to directions in a separate pot and add hot to individual bowls of soup otherwise rice and noodles will bloat and leftovers will not be as good as the original soup.)


* Other vegetables can be used in the soup such as yellow squash, zucchini, peas, and broccoli to name a few that I have substituted.

Preparation:

To poach the chicken: Place chicken in a large pot and fill with 3-4 quarts of water (until the pot is 2-3 inches full from the top. Cover and bring to a boil, then uncover and reduce heat to simmer.  Cook, uncovered, for 2 hours. Remove the chicken to a large plate or bowl. Strain the cooking liquids with a hand strainer and skim off excess fat off top of liquid. The is the chicken stock. Pull the skin and carcass away and chop the meat.

To make the soup: to the chicken stock add celery, green onions, carrots (or other vegetables), parsley, salt and pepper. Stir. Bring stock to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour until vegetables are tender. Put cut-up chicken back into pot and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Boil water in a large pot, salt the boiling water and cook pasta noodles (al dente) or rice. Drain pasta water and drizzle with oil (olive oil preferred); stir to combine and coat noodles evenly.

Pour the soup over the noodles or rice in soup bowls and top with fresh parsley (optional).

Leftover soup may be frozen and any leftover chicken stock can be poured into ice-cube containers and frozen for use at a later date to use in making other dishes. 

Buon Appetito!