Curly Noodle Soup

I found the BEST chicken noodle soup recipe.  My secret pal at work gave me a cook book of all soups one year, and I decided to try the Curly Noodle Chicken Soup.  I needed a recipe to take to a friend who had a baby last January, and the recipe looked like something that would be good.  I wanted to make it first to make sure it tasted good before I made it for someone else.  I loved how it tasted, and it was really easy too.  Mitch isn't a big soup guy, but he likes this recipe too.  Since then, I've made it a few times.  We had it tonight for dinner, and it was just as delicious as the first time. Here's how you make it if you are interested.

I use my food chopper to dice the onion and celery really small.  I also bought the carrots that were already sliced to eliminate one step.  Chop the chicken into 1 inch pieces.  Saute with 2 TBS of butter and 2 TB of Olive Oil.

After about 5 minutes, add a mixture of flour, oregano, basil, and pepper and mix well.

Then add 1 can of diced tomatoes and 3 14.5 ounce cans of chicken broth.  I usually buy the box of 48 ounces instead of 3 individual cans.

It looks really juicy when you add the broth, but you'll need the juice to cook the noodles at the end.  After you bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Then uncover and bring to a boil again.  Add the tri-colored rotini pasta.  Allow it to simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes.

Here is the final product right before I served it.

So yummy! I made sour cream biscuits to go with the soup.  It was the perfect "almost Fall" dinner.

Curly Noodle Chicken Soup
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
4 celery ribs, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 TBS butter
2 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp pepper
3 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
6 ounces uncooked tricolor spiral pasta (I probably use double this amount)

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, saute the chicken, onion, celery and carrots in butter and oil for 5 minutes.  Stir in flour, basil, oregano and pepper until blended.  Gradually add the broth and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour.  Return to a boil; stir in pasta.  Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered for 12-15 minutes or until the pasta is tender. 

Yields - 9 servings