When you’re not feeling well, there’s nothing better than a nice big bowl of Jewish Penicillin…. or Chicken Noodle Soup. My mom’s will always be better but if you want to give it a go for a sick hubby or child follow my recipe below! For this to be true Jewish penicillin, I recommend adding matzoh balls for the ultimate feel good bowl of comfort. You can cook them right in the finished broth instead of adding noodles and your cold will be forgotten, even if just for a minute.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole free range organic chicken
• 6 carrots
• 6 celery stalks
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• Fresh thyme
• Black peppercorns (about 10)
• 11/2 onions
• Parsnip (optional)
• Pasta (like a ditalini)
• Big pinch of Kosher Salt
• Olive oil
• Butter – 1 tab
• Fresh parsley for garnish

Directions:

Place the following in a big pot: chicken, 3 celery stalks, 3 carrots, 1 onion, garlic, turnip, thyme, peppercorns and kosher salt. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Then put the top on and reduce to a simmer. 

Let cook for about 90 minutes on a low simmer. In the meantime, prepare the remaining carrots, celery and onions to add in later. I like nice big chunks of veggies as you can see below. I place them in a ziplock in the fridge until I’m ready for them again.

After 90 minutes your chicken should be cooked through. This is a good time to remove the chicken because if you cook it too look it can turn mushy and have a bad texture. It’s also a good time to put on a small pot of water for your pasta.

Remove the chicken and let the rest of your broth continue to low simmer and reduce down some of the broth.

Pull apart your chicken meat in a separate bowl. 

Then take out your veggies. Before throwing them away I suggest mashing them through the strainer to get all the juice and nutrients out of them and back into your soup. That’s some precious juice you don’t want to waste.

I boil my pasta separately from the soup. I find that if you cook the pasta in the soup and leave it in the soup it will absorb a lot of your broth and you will get bloated noodles, especially the next day.

So keep your noodles separate and add in to each serving as necessary. I add a dab of butter and a spoonful of chicken broth to keep them moist in the meantime. (It’s also hard not to eat the whole bowl of noodles right now)

Once you remove all the veggies you should also strain the broth through a fine strainer and/or cheese cloth. The strained chicken broth should look nice and clear. 

Put the broth back in the pot and add your reserved fresh chopped carrots, celery and 1/2 onion. Let that simmer for 15 minutes or so, or until the veggies are cooked through. I don’t like them to be mush which is why we do it this way. 

When you are ready to eat, add chicken and noodles to the bowl and then a heaping spoonful of broth and veggies on top. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley. 🍲