Buttered Noodles and Herbed Chicken Broth

July 31, 2018thetipsyhousewife

Often times I make things way too complicated when I cook. I forget about the simple dishes that warm your belly and your soul. I recently re-joined the world of Pinterest and was inspired by so many of the comfort food recipes I was seeing pinned on the site. I was reminded of this delicious broth I used to make that is perfect for any time of the year. It is a dish that you can make in your slow cooker if you don’t have a lot of time or can simmer away on your stove on a weekend when you want your house to feel all cozy. No matter which way you cook it, it yields a delicious cup of hygge. It is also a super easy soup recipe, so that is why it is this weeks Tipsy Tuesday Tip.

If you aren’t familiar with the concept of Hygge, you can read up on it here. Basically it is a Danish concept of living that evokes feelings of coziness and contentment that is the result of how you have your living space, how you eat and various ways to self-care.

The smells and tastes of this broth cooking in your home will certainly evoke those hygge feelings. Made with fresh veggies and herbs, this broth is very versatile. There are several ways to serve this broth, but my favorite is to strain out the ingredients, add some perfect pasta, good quality parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper. I may go as far as to say that if anyone in your home is feeling under the weather, this broth may heal them.

The ingredients and the steps are fairly simple. Summer is a great time to make this broth thanks to fresh Summer herbs and vegetables.

The ingredients are as follows:

2 Cups of Diced Celery
2 Cups of Diced Carrots
1 Cup of Diced Onion

*If you plan to strain the veggies out like I do you do not have to take a lot of time and care in dicing the veggies. A rough chop will do fine.

6 to 8 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
2 Cartons of Chicken Stock, About 8 Cups
1 T of Salt
2 T of Black Pepper
2 Cloves of Garlic Crushed
1 Stick of Salted Butter + 3 Tablespoons
1 Handful of Fresh Thyme, I used Lemon Thyme from my garden
1 Handful of Fresh Parsley
1 Package of Good Quality Pasta, I used Oricchette, which are like discs. I would recommend any round or small, bite sized pasta.
Good Quality Parmesan
Fresh Ground Black Pepper to Taste

I have a crockpot that has a sauté setting for the next step. If you do not, I would recommend giving the carrots, onion, celery and garlic a stir around a frying pan in some butter before adding this to your crock. If you don’t have time, don’t let it dissuade you from making it. The recipe will still be great, just make time the next time to take this extra step. You can also roast the carrots, celery, onion and garlic in the oven for about 20 minutes before adding to the pot. Below are the steps for using a crockpot. I will add modifications for a stove top at the end.

Set crock pot to sauté, add your stick of butter and let it melt.
When your butter is melted, add your celery, onions, carrots and garlic and cook until they are semi soft.
While your veggies sauté, salt and pepper both sides of the chicken thighs and then add them to the crock pot when the veggies are semi soft.
Add in the handfuls of the herbs and the two cartons of chicken stock.
I set my crock pot to 12 hours and let it cook overnight, or all day if I start it early in the morning.

**If you are cooking on the stove, you can follow the same steps and bring your pot to a boil and set the burner to low and let the soup simmer 6 to 8 hours on the stove, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing is burning on the bottom.

When the broth is finished, I let it cool a little and settle and I take a small measuring cup and skim off some of the fat on the top. Remember you added butter so there will be some fat. If this does not bother you then leave it. I make this broth for Mr. Tipsy for his gut health so the fat you see can help with that.
I then strain out all the chicken and veggies by placing a strainer over a bowl and I discard the veggies, herbs and chicken. All the nutrients have been leached out into your broth so the flavors are IN the broth. You are more than welcome to leave them in or pick out the chicken and add it back to your broth.
If you want to discard some of the fat you can let the broth sit in the fridge overnight in the bowl. The fat will rise and harden on the top and you can lift it off, but we leave it the way it is.
Next, boil your pasta until it is al dente. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain it and add the 3 tablespoons of butter to the pot and toss the cooked pasta in it.
To plate this dish simply add the pasta to the bowls, as much or as little as you wish. I use about a ladle or two full of the broth on top of the pasta and then I top it with fresh parmesan and lots and lots of black pepper. The pasta should not be floating in the broth, add just enough broth so you get a little bit with each bite.

The simplicity of this dish is what makes it so special. Even with purchasing good quality pasta and parm, this dish still costs around $20 to make, will feed four people with leftovers for the next day’s lunch or dinner for all four people. Store the pasta separate from the broth. You can also freeze the broth to use at a later time.

My Tipsy Tuesday Tip is to not get overwhelmed with thinking you need to create dinner recipes with tons of ingredients. This recipe has minimal ingredients but combined, make for one of the most flavorful meals in my repertoire. Summer is a perfect time to make all kinds of soups with the abundance of fresh veggies most of the country has access too. All soups should include the Celery, Carrots and Onions, but you can add other veggies too, to make all kinds of flavorful broths. Leave the veggies and proteins in or take them out. Play around with different pastas and grains to add in as well.

I actually used the veggies and chicken from this dish and added potato dumplings for a second dinner to eat this week. I would suggest to anyone to purchase a good quality crockpot. Having a warm dinner to come home to is just nice for everyone whether you have a family or you are single. I also suggest putting on a pot of something like this on a day when you are home. Having a pot to attend to on the stove will definitely give you all the Hygge feels.