Make Marczyk Fine Foods’ Cure-All Chicken Noodle Soup

Hail, wet snow, and the season’s stubborn germs means there’s no better time to make a big pot of soup. This soup, to be exact, which is sure to solve any problem you may have, from simple hunger to early-season allergies to the demon flu.

Marczyk Fine Foods’ Chicken Noodle Soup
If you have neither the time nor the inclination to make your own chicken broth (which also gives you the meat you want for the finished soup; give it a try if you can), you can buy broth and a rotisserie chicken instead. Peter Marczyk recommends Aneto brand low-sodium or regular chicken broth as a “no-brainer substitution that tastes wonderfully fresh and authentic at a good price.” 

Yield: 8 Quarts

For the broth

1 3- to 4-pound whole chicken, quartered; keep all bones and skin
1 medium (227 grams/8 ounces) yellow onion, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 medium (113 grams/4 ounces) carrots, peeled and chopped (save the remaining half for the soup)
1 1/2 medium celery stalks (113 grams/4 ounces), trimmed and chopped (save the remaining half for the soup)
1 teaspoon (1.3 grams/.5 ounce) dried thyme
1 dried bay leaf
5 whole black peppercorns
About 5 quarts water

For the soup

2 tablespoons (28 grams/1 ounce) butter
2 medium (454 grams/1 pound) yellow onions, peeled and diced
3 medium (227 grams/8 ounces) carrots, peeled and diced
3 medium (227 grams/8 ounces) celery stalks, trimmed and diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
2 pounds (907 grams) chicken meat (pulled from 1 whole chicken; see above)
12 ounces dried linguine, broken into quarters and cooked until al dente
1/3 cup Marsala wine
1 recipe chicken broth (see above; or about 5 quarts store-bought broth)

Make the broth

Combine the chicken, vegetables, herbs, and peppercorns in an eight-quart stockpot. Pour in enough water to cover the chicken completely. Heat to just under a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer; there should be just one or two bubbles breaking the surface every minute or so. Skim any fat or scum from the surface with a ladle, reserving the fat, if you wish, for another use. Simmer the broth for about an hour, until the chicken is cooked through and beginning to pull away from bones.

Continue simmering, but remove the chicken from the pot and let it cool, about 10 minutes, until cool enough to handle. Remove all of the meat from the bones, reserving the meat in a bowl in the fridge while continuing to prep the ingredients for the soup. Return the bones to the pot, and simmer for 30 minutes or up to an hour.

Strain the broth into a clean pot. Keep the broth warm on a back burner while preparing the rest of the soup.

Make the soup

Clean the first stockpot and use it for the soup (because how many stockpots do you have, anyway?). Melt the butter in the stockpot over medium heat until the foam begins to subside. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic; sauté for two minutes. Add the salt, pepper, and thyme and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are beginning to soften but are not browned, about five minutes more. Add the Marsala, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan; cook until the liquid is mostly evaporated. 

Return the cooked chicken meat to the pot along with the noodles; add as much warm broth as desired. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. When the chicken and noodles are warmed through, taste the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

Cool any remaining broth over an ice bath. It will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about one week or frozen for up to two months. The soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about one week or frozen for up to two months.