Chicken Noodle Soup with Thyme-Infused Egg Noodles
Jennifer Leamons
Executive Chef
Carolinas HealthCare System Stanly
Charlotte, N.C.
The beauty of this homemade soup lies in the crafting of the fresh pasta, says Executive Chef Jennifer Leamons. "We make our own noodles with fresh thyme in the dough, and we also infuse the oil for the pasta dough with fresh thyme," she says. She adds that you can also do something similar with spaetzle or even add caramelized onions to the dough for a different take.
Ingredients
Soup
1 whole chicken
2 oz. olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 lemons
1 oz. fresh thyme
1 oz. fresh parsley
1 onion, rough chop
1 large carrot, peeled, large dice
2 stalks celery, large dice
2 large cloves garlic, minced
3 qt. water
6 oz. chicken base
Pulled meat from half of chicken cooked earlier
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. chopped
Thyme sprigs
1/2 cup egg noodles (recipe follows)
Thyme-infused egg noodles
3 sprigs thyme
1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
Steps
- Rinse and pat dry chicken. Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Zest lemons. Tear herbs into pieces and mix with olive oil and lemon zest. Place mixture under chicken skin.
- Roast chicken at 375 F for 40 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160 F. Remove from oven and cool in refrigerator overnight.
- In stockpot, sweat onions on medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery and garlic; cook for 7 minutes.
- Mix water and chicken base; add to stockpot. Bring to a boil. Add pulled chicken meat, bay leaf and thyme, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add fresh pasta and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve hot.
- Prepare egg noodles: Pull leaves off 2 sprigs of thyme and simmer in oil for 10 minutes, until oil is infused. Set aside to cool.
- Put flour on clean table and add salt. Pull leaves off remaining thyme sprig and add to flour. Make well and add eggs and thyme-infused olive oil. Gently start pulling in flour to center to create soft dough. Knead dough for 5 minutes, until tacky to touch. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Unwrap dough and set on generously floured table. Roll dough out with rolling pin to 1/4-inch thick. Cut into desired shapes and store on well-floured sheet pan until needed.