Chicken Noodle Soup with Poached Breast and Fennel
A whole chicken breast gently poached in broth gives this soup tender pieces of meat without a separate frying step. Fennel, red and white onion, and colorful carrots bring sweetness to the pot. Keep the simmer quiet and add the small pasta near the end: the vegetables should be soft, the chicken easy to cut, and plenty of broth still visible around the noodles.
Ingrédients
- 10 1/2 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast
- 8 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth plus up to 4 1/4 cups extra as needed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 small red onions and 2 small white onions about 17 1/2 ounces combined, diced
- 9 ounces trimmed fennel bulb diced
- 9 ounces carrots cut into 1/4-inch rounds
- 5 1/4 ounces dried small pasta
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper plus more to taste
- Fine salt to taste starting with up to 1/2 teaspoon only if needed
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Dice the onions and trimmed fennel. Slice the carrots into thin rounds. Keep raw chicken separate.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot. Sweat onions, fennel and carrots over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes without browning.
- Strain homemade broth if needed. Add 8 1/2 cups broth and pepper to the vegetables; bring to a gentle simmer. Reserve the extra broth.
- Submerge the chicken breast in the broth, partly cover and poach gently. Start checking at 12 minutes; allow roughly 15 to 20 minutes or longer until the thickest part reaches 165°F.
- Transfer chicken to a clean board and cut into bite-sized pieces. When carrots are nearly tender, add pasta to the simmering soup and cook for its package time, usually 8 to 10 minutes. Return chicken for the final minute.
- Add hot reserved broth as needed for a soupy consistency, bring back to a gentle simmer, adjust salt and pepper and stir in parsley. Serve promptly.
Vidéo
Notes
Individual vegetable, pasta and seasoning measures are reconstructed for reproducibility. Timing varies with breast thickness and pasta shape. Nutrition is approximate and excludes bread. For planned leftovers, cook and store pasta separately. Refrigerate promptly and use within 3 to 4 days; reheat to 165°F.