Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

I've always loved soups. Oddly enough, chicken noodle soup was never at the top of my "fave soups" list until I tasted this one. It was originally my sister's recipe. I've tinkered with it a bit to get this version. Soups can get away with being pretty loosey-goosey with amounts, so these are approximate.

1/2 onion, chopped (or 1 small)
1 clove garlic, finely minced
3 stalks celery, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced

Saute the above in some olive oil. Use enough to cover the bottom of the pan and then a bit more...you'll be making a roux in a bit. You can also add in any other fresh veggies you'd like, adjusting the amount of oil needed. My sister usually adds in fresh zucchini, and she also uses more garlic. You can also season the veggies with some black pepper. When all the veggies are soft, sprinkle in some flour. I usually use a heaping tablespoon...you really don't need a bunch of flour, you want the roux base to just come together...the remaining ingredients will help thicken things up. Then pour in 1 quart of chicken stock and about a pound of cooked and shredded/cubed chicken. I generally use poached chicken breast. I did not save the poaching water but if I had I would have used it. If you want to add any frozen veggies this is the time to add that as well...I added peas this time around. Stir up and let the soup come up to a boil. When it does, turn off the stove. Add about 8 oz. of noodles...egg noodles are probably best, but anything that's not a long noodle like spaghetti will work. Stir in about 1/2 c of heavy cream. Once the cream has distributed throughout the soup take the soup pot completely off the heat and cover. The noodles will cook up just fine. In fact, I usually find that the noodles absorb too much water, and I end up adding more chicken stock after the soup has cooled. Or you can saute the noodles up separately in a bit of oil before adding them to the soup to help curb the water absorption...but sometimes the soup gets too greasy if too much oil clings to the noodles when you add them to the soup.

My sister uses more flour in the beginning to make the roux and less heavy cream. Her soup comes out a bit more stew-y.

All soups freeze well, but this one seems to freeze exceptionally well. It doesn't get overly watery like some thawed soups do, so I always cook up at least a double batch and freeze half of it for later.