Chicken Soup with Broken Lasagna Noodles

What do you do with a rotisserie chicken from the market after you were so hungry that you ripped off that chicken leg for a quick snack when you got home from shopping and never actually had it for dinner?  I had plans to make chicken salad from the breast meat, and definite intention for the rest of the chicken, thinking I'd eventually heat up some veggies and have it for dinner, or add some nice white meat to a big dinner salad (neither of which ever happened). So today, when I didn't have to be at work until 2 p.m., I decided to take advantage of a morning at home and make a pot of home-made chicken soup. I know the basics about making a broth-based soup, and just started chopping vegetables and kept building the soup up until everything was simmering away in the pot. I had help from social media making this soup, too, incorporating two cultural traditions! I was on facebook and posted a photo of the veggies in the pot. Joanne suggested (as a trusted Jewish cook) the garlic and tomato, and Diane said her Italian mother always finished with a squeeze of lemon! So this Irish girl had wonderful advice that resulted in a very delicious broth. How cool is that, to have a recipe evolve by contributions as it's being made! And I added my own unique touch, too. When it came time to add pasta, I realized I was out of ditalini, my favorite for soup. So, I got creative (I work at a college where the catch phrase is "Creative Thought Matters") and took six uncooked lasagna noodles and broke them up in roughly 1-inch pieces. It was pretty simple, and very delicious! It made a great packable meal for my late night at work, and the rest of the pot went downstairs to Katie's house so they could enjoy it.

Here's my brand new recipe! (followed by a few photos of the soup coming together):

CHICKEN SOUP WITH BROKEN LASAGNA NOODLES

1 cooked rotisserie chicken from the market
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped (save leafy tops for finished soup)
12 baby carrots, sliced in roughly 1/8-inch slices
1 large tomato, or a good handful of grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I buy it already minced in a jar, in the produce section)
water
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 lemon, grating about a teaspoon of the peel and also squeezing half the lemon for juice
6 uncooked lasagna noodles, broken into 1-inch rough pieces
Good Parmesan cheese (I like shredded)

Directions:

Cut meat off chicken and dice into small chunks, removing skin. Set aside. Put the remaining trimmed chicken and skin in a medium saucepan and cover with water.  Add a few more stalks of celery (cut to fit in pot) and tomato or tomatoes and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer while you cook the rest of the vegetables in the larger pot.

Into the larger pot, pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add onions, celery, and carrots and cook over medium heat until they begin to "sweat" and take on a translucent look, 10-15 minutes. Add garlic, salt, and pepper and continue to cook for another five minutes or so over low heat. Add water to fill pot half-way or about 4"inches deep.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for a while, about half an hour is fine. Meanwhile, strain the liquids from the smaller pot into the larger pot. Get the tomatoes from the strainer and add to larger pot. Cut off any additional meat from the strained chicken and add to larger pot. Add the rest of the chicken meat you cut up and set aside earlier. Add broken lasagna noodles and the chopped up leafy greens from the celery stalks. Add grated lemon peel and squeeze half a lemon (catch the seeds) into the pot. Let simmer for at least another 10 minutes or until noodles are softened.

Ladle into serving bowls. Top with some shredded Parmesan cheese.

Thanks for reading, and if you have your own special chicken soup recipe, and a family story to go with it, I'd LOVE to hear about it!

All the best,

Jeannie
aka The Adirondack Baker