Roasted Chicken and Roasted Vegetable Soup

Well, after I roasted the chicken (see previous post), I had a wonderful idea: roasted chicken and vegetable soup. I didn't want to waste any of the deliciousness that was the chicken.

I took the carcass from the chicken I roasted, pulled off any remaining large chunks meat, then boiled the carcass. I also scraped all the jelly off the serving platter (that's where a lot of the gelatin pools) and added it to the broth . I then roasted up some veggies for the soup.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Soup

1 5 lb chicken carcass
4 cups of noodles (thick, dumpling-like noodles work best)
3/4 inch piece of fresh ginger
1/2 pound of carrots
1 large turnip
1 medium onion
3/4 pound of mushrooms (preferably crimini)
1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons of chopped garlic
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
1/2 tablespoon of ground cumin
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
Water

Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C).

While roasting the chicken, put the giblets and neck in a pan to boil. This can be done ahead of time. Once the chicken is roasted, remove the large cuts of meat from the carcass. Reserve some of the roasted meat for soup; use or freeze the remainder.

Put the carcass and skin in the pan with the giblets and neck and simmer. As the carcass simmers, regularly scum away the froth and fat that collects on the top of the broth.

Chop carrots, turnip, onion, and mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Drizzle olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the vegetables and mix until all of the vegetables are coated. Coat a baking sheet with sides with olive oil (a sheet of aluminum foil can be placed in the bottom of the sheet and oiled for easier cleaning). Put vegetables in the sheet. Roast until nearly done, about 1/2 hour or so.

Once the stock has simmered for a few hours, strain the chicken carcass out of the stock. Remove useful meat from the carcass and return to the broth. Add the vegetables and vinegar.

Simmer for an hour. Continue scumming any froth or floating fat. Add noodles and cook until noodles are done. Enjoy!

This soup can be made with roasted potatoes in addition to or instead of the noodles. I don't like my soups too starchy, so I only use one starch. When I make chicken soup, I prefer noodles. When we moved to Spokane, I discovered Country Pasta, a brand of noodles that are much, much thicker than standard egg noodles, at Costco. I love the texture they bring, dense and chewy, almost dumpling-like.

The soup turned out really, really well. The balsamic vinegar really highlighted the roasted flavors of the chicken and vegetables without making the soup sour or tangy. I roasted the vegetables until they were done and they were good, but I think taking them out of the oven while they are still al dente will make the soup a little more flavorful without making the veggies mushy.