Turkey Noodle Soup

Turkey Noodle Soup (or chicken for that matter) although an American institution, was a new concept for me until I moved to Canada and my husband requested it once after I had made stock from a roast. In our home, growing up we always had pureed soups which I loved and still love and constantly make, but for him this was his favourite soup – especially when feeling under the weather. I immediately understood why – especially when it is made with a good stock that you have made yourself.  

Whenever I make turkey stock this soup always follows closely behind and quite often any extra stock gets popped into the freezer for those days when nothing other than some good soup will do. It is so simple all it requires is some heating up, a little chopping of vegetables, shredding of meat and gentle cooking of pasta. Even better, the vegetables I use (carrots and celery) I always have on hand as I use them to make the initial stock but you can change them to whatever you prefer or have. Same with the pasta – the favourite in our house for the time being is macaroni but anything works. I particularly like lasagne sheets that you just roughly break up so that you get lovely silky pieces of uneven pasta which is also a great way to finish up those last few sheets of dried lasagne that always seem to remain in the box!

This is soup to be slurped and enjoyed when needing revitalized and restored with feel-good simple food. 

1500ml homemade turkey or chicken stock

3 carrots, peeled and sliced at an angle
3 celery stalks, sliced at an angle
100g of dried macaroni (or other pasta of your choice)
Shredded leftover turkey or chicken – as much as you like or have – I usually add a good couple of handfuls
Salt & pepper
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional but adds an extra pick-me-up element right at the end)

Put the stock in a large pan and bring up to a gentle boil. Add the chopped carrots and celery and cook for roughly 6-7 minutes until tender. Continuing to boil the stock, add the pasta and cook for a further 7-8 minutes or until the pasta is just cooked through. When there is just a couple of minutes of cooking time left for the pasta add the shredded turkey or chicken. Taste to check the seasoning and adjust if necessary then ladle into bowls and sprinkle over some parsley, and if using spritz a little lemon juice, then slurp, enjoy and feel good.