Chicken noodle soup

It's the 1st October and I have the reddest nose this side of the North Pole. What I thought was a passing sore throat has become a fully fledged cold. I'm surrounded by tissues and all I want is a simple clear chicken noodle soup. I had mine with bread for double carbohydrate heaven. If you have the time/energy of course you can make your own stock and cook your chicken but this is a shortcut version which tastes very good indeed.





Ingredients (serves 4 generously):
A few stalks of celery, cubed
A couple of carrots, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a little more for the noodles
Salt and pepper
1 clove fresh garlic (optional)
A few cups of cooked chicken (I bought a cooked chicken and took the meat off the bone)
1 tub of ready made chicken stock and the same amount of water
1 chicken stock cube (optional)
Small handful fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
Fettucine or other egg pasta/noodles (as much or as little as you want)

Method:

Fill your kettle and boil. Add the olive oil to a large pan on medium heat. Add the celery and carrot and season with a little salt and pepper. Saute until the vegetables begin to soften. Mince the garlic clove and add to the pan. Stir for a minute and add a little stock or water to the pan to stop the garlic from burning. You don't want to colour the veg, just soften it slightly.

Add the tub of stock and then with the hot water from your kettle, fill up so the water level is about three quarters of the way up the pan. You can use all stock rather than half water/half stock, but this was just to make the soup more affordable. If you feel the soup needs more flavour, add a stock cube and stir in. Bring the soup to the boil and reduce to a simmer.

Add the chicken and cook for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables have cooked through and the soup has increased in flavour. Season further if needed. In the meantime get your pasta on. Add some oil to the cooking water to stop the pasta sticking together. When it is al dente, drain.

Stir the parsley into the soup. Add some noodles to your bowl and pour over the soup.