Rescue noodle soup with leftover chicken
There’s nothing like a bowl of homemade soup to make you feel a thousand times better, says Melissa Hemsley. If I’ve had a Sunday roast chicken, I make this on a Monday, using store cupboard ingredients. You could swap in anything that needs using up.
Serves 4 1 tbsp ghee or butter 1 large leek or onion, diced 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1.2 litres of vegetable stock or bone broth 1 big handful of a mix of fresh herbs, such as parsley and dill, stems and leaves chopped (keep the chopped stems and leaves separate) 1 tbsp of fresh (or 1 tsp of dried) thyme leaves 1 bay leaf, dried or fresh 2 celery sticks, diced 2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 handfuls of 2cm chunks of root veg, such as sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, potato or (in the summer) courgette
400g of noodles or spaghetti, any type 1 tsp olive oil 300g mix of cabbage, rainbow chard and/or chard, stems finely chopped and leaves shredded (keep the stems and leaves separate) 300g leftover shredded chicken juice of ¼ lemon or 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 big handfuls of frozen peas or sweetcorn sea salt and black pepper
• In a large wide saucepan, heat the ghee or butter and fry the leek or onion over a medium heat for 8 minutes while you prep everything else. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.
• Add the stock or broth, chopped parsley or dill stems, thyme, bay leaf, celery, carrots, root veg and some salt and pepper, pop the lid on and cook for 15 minutes until the carrots are almost tender.
• Meanwhile, cook the noodles in a separate pan until almost tender (check the label for suggested timings), then drain and rinse under cold water to stop them cooking further. Toss with the olive oil to stop them clumping and set aside.
• Back to your soup pan: add the chopped cabbage and chard stems, shredded chicken, lemon juice or vinegar and cook for a few more minutes. Add the chard leaves, frozen peas or sweetcorn and cooked noodles for a final 2 minutes so that the chard wilts, the peas cook and the noodles heat through.
• Season to taste and serve up straight away, topped with the fresh herb leaves.
• Waste not: you don’t have to use noodles here, you can add any pasta shapes you like, so just use whatever odds and ends of pasta packets you have. You could even add the pasta straight into the soup to cook and save on using a second pan.