Whenever I get a cold, my mom helpfully remarks, “Well, I’d tell you to eat some chicken-noodle soup if I thought you would.” And to this, I typically respond with something along the lines of “yes, yes that would be good advice if I were someone who ate chicken.” Then she tells me to take a Zinc supplement and drink some juice, which I always agree to do.
It’s the little predictabilities, you know, that make family relationships so special.
At any rate, while I don’t eat chicken or chicken broth, this recipe is one that I love even more than the real thing. It’s warm and rich and flavorful and comforting, and it great if you have a cold (as I did when I made it), or if you just want a bit of coziness in your life. My method here is a vegetarian adaptation of Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup, so if you want more specific measurements, check his recipe out. Because this one is an Erin special–meaning ‘short on details, long on making stuff up as you go along.’
To start, I sauteed the following in a big soup pot:
- 1 diced yellow onion
- 2 ribs of celery, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (add this a bit later to prevent burning)
In another saute pan, caramelize one diced onion, and preheat your oven to about 375. You’ll see why later!
After the veggies get a bit softened, I added a bunch of vegetable stock (let’s say about 5 cups), and seasoned this. My favorite things to season the stock:
- Creole seasoning
- salt
- cayenne
- thyme
- oregano
- fennel seed
- Worcestershire sauce
After this began to taste the way I wanted it (rich, peppery, herb-y), I got started on the not-chicken “meatballs.” This sounds a bit crazy, but trust: it is delicious. Tyler’s recipe is “ultimate” chicken-noodle soup because all of the elements are a bit more decadent than you’d expect. So instead of plain chunks of chicken, he makes meatballs out of chicken-apple-sausage, and instead of flat noodles, he uses cheese tortellini. I’ve done both the sausage and tortellini adaptations before, but for this round, we kept is simple with just the “sausage.”
To start, you need the caramelized onion from earlier (it should be just about ready now, if you’ve cooked it slowly enough). You also need some fake chicken: in Canada, this one from PC is the best; in the States, I’d go with this one. Once your fake chicken is thawed, put the following into a food processor:
- 2 not-chicken cutlets, chopped
- the caramelized onion
- 1 egg
- sage
- bread crumbs
- chopped parsley
- + applesauce, if you want to replicate the flavor of chicken-apple sausage
Pulse this until it’s broken down enough to form into balls. Form the entire mixture into slightly-flattened balls about 1-2 Tbsp each, and place them all onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake these in the oven for about 10 minutes on each side. (Alternatively, you could fry them in a little bit of oil on the stovetop. This is tasty, but makes the soup a little greasier than I like it.
When you have 10 minutes left on your meatballs, taste the broth and re-season it if necessary. Then, add whatever pasta you want. This time, we used bowties, but tortellini is also great. If you’ve timed things correctly, your pasta should be cooked at about the same time that your meatballs are done. To serve, put a few meatballs in the bottom of each bowl, then ladle the noodle-soup on top of them. Top the whole thing with some extra chopped parsley and serve with some crusty bread, and you’re in business.
Philosophers at Home 