25 posts tagged “soups and stews”
For the longest time, I thought I disliked curries. There's no reason for this other than really poor assumption on my part (though I think my mom always saying she didn't like curry didn't help the situation).
But then I started wondering how could I not like curry? I mean, the combo of the sweet & spicy flavors is so similar to Greek and Moroccan cooking, both of which I love. As soon as I saw the spice mixture that was typically used in curry powders, I was on board.
Still, I didn't want to end up with a ton of curry if for some strange reason I didn't like it, so I went to the Spice House and just bought an ounce of yellow curry powder (one of the reasons why I love this store, besides their awesome spices, is the fact that you can buy just a tiny bag of any spice). And then, like most new things I buy, it sat in my cabinet for a while until I remembered it was there.
I very randomly came across this recipe when I was searching for nothing of the sort. Funny how that happens. I love lamb. I adore lentils. It seemed like a great place to start with the curry.
This was delicious. I made modifications based on my tastes and what I had around. It was even better the next day at lunch. I am officially a yellow curry fan. Now I just need to try other varieties.
Curried Lamb and Lentil Stew
Serves 4-6
adapted from Cooking Light
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 ribs celery, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. trimmed and cubed leg of lamb
1 Tbps. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 cups beef broth
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup lentils
1 large or 2 small/medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and all moisture squeezed out
Heat a dutch oven over medium heat and add the oil. Saute the onion, celery and garlic until tender. Add the lamb and brown. Add the curry powder, cumin, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste and stir well to coat.
Add broth, tomatoes, and lentils. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer for 5 additional minutes before adding the carrots and spinach. Simmer about 10 more minutes longer.
We were out of town for a few days (attending a great wedding Tom & I both stood up in) so you'll have to forget the lack of attention to my blog. I wish I could say it won't happen again but since we're going out of town again in the next couple of weeks (it's wedding season!) and the holidays are fast approaching, I can't guarantee that.
Chicago weather has been a bit schizophrenic. I thought for sure Fall had come. I made a batch of Italian wedding soup, switched the clothes in my closet from the skirts and short sleeved shirts to the sweaters and...more sweaters. (I have a bit of a sweater obsession.) And then...it was in the 80s. We had to turn on our A/C all over again. More grilled chicken salads came into the picture.
But I think (hope?) I can say with confidence now that Fall is here. Oh sure, next week we'll probably have to turn our heat on and the week after that we'll probably be trampling through snow. Gotta love the midwest. But for now, I am enjoying the weather and renewing my love affair with soups and stews.
So, the second soup of the season was this white bean, prosciutto, and kale soup. Over the last few years, I have become slightly obsessed with beans (although I am still not the craziest about garbanzo, sadly). I used to dislike beans (or at least, I thought I did) but I am always keeping beens/lentils around these days and adding them to pretty much everything. I love green leafy vegetables with white beans, so I decided to go with kale over spinach since I think it's sturdier and has a more bitter flavor that I prefer in soups. And the prosciutto was just something to bulk it up, that worked really well flavor-wise in this soup. Of course you can always add some smoked chicken sausage or start off the soup with bacon or pancetta. I personally loved the meaty chunks of prosciutto.
This is how I like to buy my prosciutto:
I ask the person at the deli/butcher to cut the entire 1/2 lb. in one thick, meaty slice. Thin slices are great for sandwiches and the like, but more times than not I use don't use prosciutto for sandwiches/wrapping things, so this works best for me. And by the way, even if you do prefer thin prosciutto, still get it from the deli. It's cheaper than the prepackaged kind.
White Bean, Prosciutto and Kale Soup
Serves 6-8
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 can (3 oz. total) tomato paste
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 quarts chicken broth
1.5 Tbsp. rosemary
2 cans cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1 rind from a wedge of parmesan or romano cheese
1 Turkish bay leaf
1 bunch kale, chopped
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 lb. prosciutto, diced
salt and pepper
Heat the oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or stockpot. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in the garlic, cooking until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and red pepper flakes, cooking just a minute or two to cook off some of the paste.
Meanwhile, lightly smash about 1/2 a can of the white beans (this will thicken the soup a bit). Add the chicken broth, rosemary, beans, rind and bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Add the kale and carrots and simmer an additional 8 minutes or so until the kale is tender.
Off the heat, add the prosciutto (or you can just add it to the bowl you are eating the soup out of).
Nutritional Information (for 6 servings): Calories: 341 / Fat: 10g / Carbs: 45g / Fiber: 9.8g / Protein: 21g
On Saturday, Tom and I ventured outside in the freezing cold. It turns out this was not the best idea for me since I tend to fall when there is even a tiny bit of ice out, and there was more than a tiny bit on Saturday. Ah, it was a sight to see; me clinging for dear life to the fences along the sidewalk. But I still fell. Sigh. Luckily, it was for a good cause because we were headed to the meat market to buy something for dinner. I debated between lamb and veal and eventually landed on veal stew meat because it sounded good and it was much more cost effective (not that this mattered, of course, because we bought other things and ended up spending too much, anyway).
I debated between a veal stew or some sort of veal pasta sauce and landed somewhere in between, with what I guess I could (and will) call a veal ragout. The meat stewed for an hour so it was extremely tender and stew-like, and then I added some small pasta (ditalini) in at the end, so it was a great one-pot meal and extremely comforting on a blistering cold Saturday.
Ragout of Veal with Ditalini
Serves about 4
3-4 slices bacon, chopped
1 lb. veal, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. mushrooms, quartered
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/3 cup marsala wine
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1 bay leaf
2 cups ditalini pasta
3 cups fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper
Heat a pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook until it begins to crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. of the bacon fat.
Season the veal with salt and pepper. Add to the dutch oven and brown on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and saute until the garlic is fragrant, about one minute.
Add the marsala to the dutch oven and cook until it's reduced by half. Stir in the mushrooms, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, thyme, marjoam, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Bring to a light boil and then add the veal back in. Cover and simmer for an hour (or as long as you want).
Stir in the ditalini and cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the pasta is cooked. During the last 2 or 3 minutes of cooking, stir in the spinach so that it wilts. Add the bacon back in to warm through.
During the holidays, I read Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table. Reichl, now the editor of Gourmet magazine, used to be the food critic for the New York Times. This book is about some of her earlier adventures in life, food and otherwise. I really enjoyed the book, though I think I prefered Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, which focused on her time as the NYT critic. At any rate, one of the great things about Reichl's books is that they are sprinkled with recipes throughout. When I saw the recipe for a pork and tomatillo stew based on the version at a restaurant where Reichl used to waitress (The Swallow), I bookmarked it to try soon.
I made the stew tonight, with a few changes since I can never follow a recipe, and it turned out well. It was a little too liquidy for my tastes and the orange flavor just a tad too strong. I would probably reduce the OJ by a couple ounces next time around. It wasn't overly orange-y, I would have just prefered it to be slightly less sweet. I did think it might be too much at the beginning but I figured the beer and tomatillos would mellow it out--and it did quite a bit. Don't get me wrong...it doesn't taste like it has 12 oz of orange juice in it :)
Unfortunately, I don't like cilantro. I have tried and tried and tried but it just tastes like potpourri to me. It's one of those things I really wish I loved. In my experience, you either love cilantro or you loathe it. If necessary, I can tolerate it in small amounts, but I'd rather not So, although they don't really have similar flavors, I used parsley in this recipe instead because it's more palatable for me.
The Swallow's Pork and Tomatillo Stew
adapted from Ruth Reichl
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used 2 Tbsp. canola oil)
8 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 lbs. lean pork, cut into cubes
1 bottle dark beer (I used a Goose Island ale)
12 oz. orange juice (would use 1 cup next time)
1 lb. tomatillos, halved
1 lb. Roma tomatoes, peeled and cut in half
2 large onions, chopped
2 jalapenos, diced
1 bunch cilantro or parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. ground cumin (not in original recipe)
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper
Topping
1 cup sour cream
juice of one lime
In a saucepan, add the beer, orange juice, tomatoes and tomatillos. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, simmering until the tomatoes are soft. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the canola oil in a dutch oven or stockpot. Add the garlic cloves and stir to coat with the oil. Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper and then add it to the oil, in batches, to brown on all sides. Remove from the dutch oven. Add the onion and jalapeno and saute until tender, 5 or 6 minutes.
Add the tomatillo mixture to the dutch oven, scraping the bottom of the pot to be sure you are getting all the browned bits. Add the pork, cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cook, partially covered, for about 2 hours.
Taste for seasoning. Add the black beans and cook an additional ten minutes, uncovered.
For the topping, stir the lime juice into the sour cream.
Serve the stew over rice, and top it with the sour cream.
Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody fame has recently moved into what is probably one of the cutest houses I've seen. She has asked people to bring a dish to her virtual housewarming party, and I've been trying to figure out for a few days now what to bring. Since a lot of Peabody's blogging friends are bakers, I figure many of the dishes brought will be desserts, so I decided to "bring" something savory. The decision was made much easier by the fact that baking is not what you would call my "strong suit." In fact, you'd probably call it my weakness. So, no need to try and compete with all those wonderful bakers!
I ended up picking avgolemono (egg-lemon rice) soup, not only because I love making soups and it's Greek, but because Seattle has had its first snowfall, and I figure something warm and comforting is good. I am "serving" the soup in mugs so it's easier to eat at a potluck, and it's even served on a special trivet, just for Peabody...a hockey puck. I considered using my Lidstrom jersey under the mug, but I don't think self-proclaimed Red Wings hater Peabody would like that much. Or, maybe she would, in hopes that the soup would spill all over the jersey ;)
Avgolemono is probably the easiest soup in the world to make; not that it tastes that way. The thing is, because it has so few ingredients (4, if you're not adding chicken), you really want to use homemade stock for this soup to make sure it has good flavor. I suppose you could use a good quality store bought stock, but I'm going to be a little Ina Garten here and strongly suggest homemade stock.
Soupa Avgolemono
serves 6
8 cups homemade chicken stock or good quality store-bought stock
1 cup rice (I prefer short grain because it's starchier and will help to thicken the soup but if you don't want the rice to be as soft or the soup to be as thick, use long grain)
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (optional)
3 eggs
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (more or less, depending on how tart you want the soup)
salt and pepper
In a stockpot or dutch oven, bring the stock to a low boil and add the rice. Simmer until the rice is cooked, and then stir in the chicken just to heat through. Season to taste. Take the dutch oven off the heat.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs together with the lemon juice. Slowly drizzle some of the broth from the soup into the egg-lemon mixture, whisking constantly so as not to scramble the egg. Do about 2 ladles full of broth. Then, slowly pour the whole mixture back into the stockpot, again whisking constantly.
Sprinkle the soup with fresh ground pepper and serve with lemons, if desired.
(And not my mama's, either.)
I don't like tomato soup. To me, it's just so boring and so bland. I need something in my soup, whether it's meat or a starch or...something. And in general I am not crazy about tomato based soups. I much prefer stock and cream based. Of course, most people would disagree with me and think I'm crazy for not loving America's favorite soup. Not to mention, there are so many people that absolutely love the combination of grilled cheese and tomato soup. Unfortunately, I was never one of them. Not that I don't love grilled cheese...but I'll take mine with fries, thankyouverymuch.
That aside, I do love tortilla soup, which obviously has tomato base to it. Tortilla soup is one of my favorites. I tried making it last year with mediocre results, so I thought I'd give it a whirl again. I saw this recipe on Delish a couple weeks ago, and I also had this recipe from Wolfgang Puck/Food Network saved in my online recipe folder. I liked the recipe at Delish because of the abundant use of peppers and the bay leaf. I liked Puck's because of the corn tortillas and the tomato paste (I tend to prefer paste in soups over juice/crushed/diced tomatoes). So, I basically combined the two recipes and it turned out great!
I started to think of what I could make to accompany tortilla soup that was sort of grilled cheese like, and came across pupusas--stuffed El Salvadoran thick tortillas. I have plenty of masa to use and love homemade tortillas, so I decided to go with them.
For today, I just filled the pupusas with chihuahua cheese. I used this method, although I definitely used more water than a 1:2 ratio to the masa. And, I added a pinch of salt. Next time I'll experiment a little more with the filling, but overall we really enjoyed them. Homemade corn tortillas are so much softer/puffier/more delicious than the store bought kind.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
2 Tbsp. vegetable, canola or corn oil
1 large chicken breast
2 corn tortillas, cut into 1" squares
2 large anaheim chili peppers, diced
1 large poblano pepper, diced
1 jalepeno, minced
1 cup corn (cut from the cob or frozen/thawed)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 bay leaf
2 qts. chicken stock or broth
salt and pepper
In a stockpot, heat the oil. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and then cook it in the oil, just to brown on both sides. Add the tortilla squares and cook over low heat until they are slightly crisp. Add the peppers, onions and corn and stir until they are coated by the oil. Add the tomatoes, cumin, bay leaf and tomato paste and simmer for 10 minutes to combine the flavors and cook the vegetables.
Add the chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer over low heat for about 20-25 minutes, until the flavors have developed and the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the soup and slice or chop.
Season the soup to taste, if necessary. Remove the bay leaf and pulse process the soup in your food processor (in batches, if necessary). Add the chopped chicken back into the soup, and garnish with your favorite toppings.
Nutritional Info Per Serving for the Tortilla Soup (based on 5 servings): Calories: 191 / Fat: 7.5g / Carbs: 18.4g / Fiber: 3.1g / Protein: 15g
Maybe not quite...but almost. Clearly I should have used my big 8qt stockpot, but I just *heart* my dutch oven so much I didn't even think twice about how enough soup for an army would fit into it.
Talk about a soup that eats like a meal! Despite that this soup's only accompaniment was some garlic and herb bread, my husband could barely finish half his bowl because he got stuffed to the gills.
I was originally going to make Ina's lentil sausage soup, but I didn't have a few things (leeks, green lentils) and had some other things (regular brown lentils, a potato). I saw a lentil soup with sausage and potato recipe in my Joy of Cooking book, so the recipe below is essentially a mixture of those two recipes.
I ended up freezing about a quart of this soup and hopefully we can manage to make it through the rest this week for lunch, etc.
Lentil Sausage Soup
Serves: an army :)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 medium yellow onions, diced
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. kosher salt
ground pepper to taste
2 thyme sprigs
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 stalks celery, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup tomato paste
12 cups chicken broth
1 lb. lentils, rinsed and picked over
2 small or medium russet potatoes, cubed
1 lb. kielbasa or other smoked sausage, sliced in half-rounds
2 Tbsp. red wine
Grated grana padano/parmesan for serving
In a large stockpot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, cumin, salt, pepper and thyme and cook until the onions are translucent, about 10-15 minutes.
Add the carrots, celery and garlic and saute for about 8 more minutes. Stir around the tomato paste to cook it off for a couple minutes.
Pour in the chicken broth and the lentils. Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Remove the lid and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, until the lentils are just tender.
Add the cubed potato and simmer for 5 minutes before adding the sausage and red wine. Simmer an additional 5 minutes or so until potatoes are cooked and sausage is heated through. Pluck out the woody thyme sprigs.
Ladel into bowls and top with grana padano or parmesan cheese (which I forgot to add before taking the picture :)
I think I did a pretty damn good job. This soup turned out great. Very flavorful and a good texture. I roasted the corn to give it more flavor, and I added some masa harina in with the stock to thicken it up a bit and add a little more corn flavor to the soup. This is a slightly spicy soup, so you can adjust the amount of peppers, etc. to suit your taste. My husband and I really enjoyed it.
Another soup? Yep. I promise I do make things other than soups and stews, but lately I have been making standby types of dishes that have already made it to the blog. On Sundays, I like to play around more with stews and soups.
When I worked downtown, I ate Au Bon Pain's soup fairly frequently for lunch. Our workplace cafeteria featured a couple of ABP's soups daily, and the restaurant itself was just a couple blocks away. I always really liked this one soup in particular--corn and green chili bisque. It's sort of like a spicy corn chowder, but better.
I decided to try and recreate that soup tonight, or at least a similar one. Now, I will throw out the disclaimer that I haven't worked downtown in over two years--meaning, I haven't had this soup in over two years. So, I can honestly I say I don't really remember exactly what it tasted like. But, obviously I knew it had corn and green chilis in it. It was a bisque so it was slightly creamy and pureed. I took the idea and ran with it.
To make this more hearty, you can add some cooked, shredded chicken in when you add the broth, just to heat it through. This would be great topped with tortilla strips, sour cream, cheese--really whatever you want. Of course I didn't think about this ahead of time and only stirred in some cheese, since that's all we had. Since we didn't have tortillas, I pulled a few pieces of cornbread from the freezer and reheated it in a 300 degree oven. Quite tasty.
Corn and Pepper Bisque
1.5 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, diced
3 large anaheim peppers (poblanos or other green chilis would work). diced
1 jalapeno (remove the seeds and ribs if you don't want it to be too spicy)
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 12 oz. can tomatillos, cored and coarsley chopped (of course you can use fresh but my store rarely carries decent garlic, let alone tomatillos)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. chili powder
salt and pepper
2 cups corn (I roasted mine), divided
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup masa harina (corn flour)
3/4 cup half and half or cream
In a stockpot or dutch oven, melt the butter. Cook the onions and all the peppers over medium-low heat until they become tender. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
Add the tomatillos, cumin, oregano, chili powder and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes, to combine the flavors and cook the tomatillos.
Put the pepper/onion/tomato mixture and 1 cup of the roasted corn in a food processor. Process the mixture into a puree (there will still be pieces of the veggies since there is not much liquid at this point).
Put the pureed mixture back into the dutch oven and turn the heat to medium-high. Mix the masa harina with the chicken broth until it's dissolved. Add the broth/masa mixture to the dutch oven, as well as the rest of the corn. Simmer for a few minutes and season to taste, if necessary. Add the half and half or cream, and heat through.
Nutritional Information Per Serving (5 servings): Calories: 191 / Fat: 8.7g / Carbs: 26.8g / Fiber: 3.2g / Protein: 5.4g
Tom and I are going out of town this weekend, which makes it a good time to clean out the fridge/cupboards. The only meat we had in the freezer all week was chicken breast, so that obviously needed to be the protein in tonight's dinner. Then, I had a random leftover carrot, a couple ribs of celery, a few mushrooms and a few baby redskin potatoes. I contemplated a veggie/chicken couscous but ultimately landed on a stew...because apparently that's all I make these days :)
I debated whether or not to actually post this dinner because as I was eating, I realized it's pretty much the same thing as my lamb barley stew, with a few changes. In the end, I decided to post it because to me, this pretty much exemplifies the options and range you can get from having one meal in your repertoire. If you don't consider yourself a cook, I guarantee that once you have a few staple dinners into your rotation and have your methods down, you can make so many more meals just by swapping out an ingredient here or there. You get to learn which flavors taste well together, how much (approximately) you need of herbs/spices, etc.
This came together really quickly (for being a stew and all) and while I would prefer dark meat bone-in chicken for stewing purposes, this was very tasty and comforting, and an easy weeknight meal...not to mention very healthy.
Chicken Stew
Serves 2
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 pound chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces
1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
4 oz. white or crimini mushrooms
1/2 lb. baby redskin potatoes, halved (skin-on)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
corn starch slurry (optional)
In a smallish stockpot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil (an aside: I use our 3 qt All Clad casserole SO often. It is perfect for the two of us). Add the chicken pieces, just to brown, and then remove them. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in the carrots, celery and garlic until the garlic is just fragrant, about a minute.
Pour the wine into the pot to deglaze, being sure to get the browned chicken bits off the bottom of the pot. Reduce the wine slightly over medium high heat.
Add the chicken broth, bay leaf, thyme, potatoes, chicken, mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Simmer until potatoes are fork tender and chicken is cooked through.
If you want, add a corn starch slurry at this point and boil about a minute uncovered.
Stir in the peas and serve.
Nutritional Info Per Serving: Calories: 288 / Fat: 8.5g / Saturated Fat: 1.3g / Carbs: 21.7g / Dietary Fiber: 3.1g / Protein: 29.1g
As someone who really enjoys cooking, I would be hard-pressed to think of my favorite dish to make. However, I would say my favorite type of thing to cook is soup. Soup is so diverse. You've got cream-based, tomato-based, broth-based. You've got potatoes, noodles, rice, beans. Chicken, beef, veggie. You've got tons of herbs with which to play around. As an added bonus, soup is a very forgiving dish. You can constantly add to and play around with the flavors as it simmers, to suit your tastes. It's pretty hard to mess up soup after you've gotten the basic techniques down.
With that said, I sometimes play around with soup so much that I forget about the good, old-fashioned varieties, like chicken noodle. There is something so comforting and familiar about chicken noodle soup. And on a day like today--high 50s, raining, and me feeling congested with the sniffles--there really is no better food.
Chicken Noodle Soup
2 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, diced
1.5 cups carrots, sliced
1.5 cups celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 cups homemade or good quality chicken broth or stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 (heaping) tsp. ground marjoram
1 tsp. thyme
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
4 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded (always prefer it roasted, myself)
5 oz. (about 1.5 cups) uncooked egg noodles
fresh ground pepper, to taste
In a large stockpot or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook for about 3 minutes before adding the celery and carrots. Continue cooking a few more minutes before adding the garlic. Stir until fragrant.
Add the chicken, broth, bay leaf, marjoram, thyme, parsley and ground pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce. Simmer lightly for 30 minutes.
Add the noodles* and simmer until cooked, about 8 minutes.
*Note: The noodles will continue to absorb the liquid as leftover sit in the pot/fridge. If you want to prevent your soup from thickening and becoming too chunky, you can reduce the amount of broth slightly and cook the noodles in a separate pot, combining with the soup in your bowl as you are about to eat.
Nutritional Information per serving (for 8 servings): Calories: 168 / Fat: 4.6g / Carbs: 17.7g / Fiber: 2g / Protein: 13.9
