Chicken Noodle Soup

📝 Ingredients

• 4 chicken legs (1.1 kg bone-in)
• 250 g wheat vermicelli (soup pasta)
• 4 carrots (400 g)
• 2 celery sticks (120 g)
• 1 brown onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 chicken stock cubes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 10 g fresh parsley
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large stockpot (5 L)
• Slotted spoon
• Chopping board
• Knife
• 2 forks
• Ladle

📖 Steps

1. Remove the skin from the chicken legs by pulling it off firmly, using a sheet of kitchen paper so your fingers don't slip. Peel the carrots and cut them into 5 mm rounds. Slice the celery and onion, and chop the garlic.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over a medium heat. Fry the onion, celery and garlic for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until the onion turns translucent, without letting it colour.
3. Add the chicken legs, carrots, bay leaves, thyme and crumbled stock cubes. Pour in 2 litres of cold water: the meat should be completely covered. Bring to the boil over a high heat.
4. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the heat down low and skim off the grey foam that rises to the surface with a slotted spoon. Simmer for 40 minutes with the lid ajar, until the meat comes away easily from the bone. The broth should barely bubble, otherwise the meat dries out.
5. Lift out the legs with the slotted spoon and leave them to cool for 5 minutes on a board. Shred the meat with two forks, discarding the bones, cartilage and fatty bits. Also remove the bay leaves from the broth.
6. Taste the broth and adjust the salt and pepper. Bring it back to a gentle boil over a medium heat, then sprinkle in the vermicelli, stirring straight away so they don't clump together.
7. Cook the vermicelli for 3 to 5 minutes, according to the packet, until tender. Return the shredded chicken to the soup and let it heat through for 1 minute over a low heat, stirring gently.
8. Chop the parsley and scatter it over just before serving. Serve the soup piping hot in deep bowls, with a grind of pepper. Don't leave it sitting on the heat: the vermicelli keep swelling.