Italian Chicken Noodle Soup

You can poach the chicken directly in the soup, or you can buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it before adding it to the soup a few minutes before serving.

What you need: (Serves 4–6)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, sliced

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp dried thyme or dried oregano

1.8L / 4pt chicken stock

2 raw chicken breasts or 2 cooked chicken breasts from a roasted chicken

200g dry pasta

zest of 1 lemon

handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, to serve

lemon wedges, to serve

What to do:

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion, carrots and celery and sauté for 5–8 minutes, or until they start to brown. Add in the garlic and dried herbs, and sauté for another minute.

2. Add in the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. If you’re using raw chicken, gently lower the chicken breasts into the soup and poach them in the simmering stock for 12–15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken from the stock and shred it with two forks or cut it into chunks.

4. Add the shredded cooked chicken back into the soup, add the pasta and stir through. Cook for the time that’s recommended on the pasta packet.

5. Once the pasta is al dente, remove soup from the heat and add the lemon zest. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with lemon wedges on the side.