Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup
I really like Tyler Florence. I like that he lives less than an hour from me, and that I think about driving up there and knocking on his door just to see what would happen. I like his show. I like the show’s theme music. (I’m not adding it to my iPod or anything. I’m just comparing it to other FN shows.) I like his industrial-but-cool stage kitchen. I like his unarrogant manner and the way he awkwardly tries to be funny. His food is really good, too. Especially this soup.
Tyler’s take on chicken noodle soup features tortellini in place of plain noodles and meatballs made from apple-gouda chicken sausage instead of plain chicken. If you’re looking at the picture wondering why my meatballs are the size of ground beef bits it’s because my meatballs fell apart while cooking in the skillet, and I threw it all in the soup anyway. It was a disaster. It might have been the type of sausage I bought because it was a little different from what Tyler used. It happened on a night we had company, too, but they told me I was being ridiculous for worrying about it. Everyone loved the soup. Even the toddlers.
How sad. I forgot the garnish.
from Tyler Florence, Food Network
For the soup:
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 large carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 bay leaf
4 fresh thyme sprigs
3 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
5 parsley stems, plus 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
4 black peppercorns
Kosher salt
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for garnish
For the meatballs:
1 medium onion, diced
Olive oil
6 links organic chicken-apple sausage meat
1 egg
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 handful fresh parsley leaves
1/4 c grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 pounds frozen cheese tortellini, store bought
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the soup:
Set a large stock pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, half the garlic, carrot, onion, celery, bay leaf, and thyme and gently saute until fragrant, about 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, add parsley stems, black peppercorns and salt, to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer while you work on meatballs and tortellini.
For the meatballs:
Caramelize the diced onion in a saute pan with a little olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage, egg, cooked onion, thyme, parsley, and cheese to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they all come together. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet with a few tablespoons of olive oil until just smoking. Use a small ice cream scoop to drop meatballs onto skillet. Cook, turning, until golden brown. (And if you’re lucky, they won’t fall apart.)
Drop tortellini straight from freezer into soup. Cook until they float. Once meatballs are browned, add to pot of chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Give soup a final seasoning of salt and pepper to taste, and serve in shallow bowls with a small shower of Parmesan, olive oil, and parsley.
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