Recipe: Emergency Soup (and homemade chicken broth recipe and tips)

EMERGENCY SOUP

"As a home cook, there are certain lessons that one learns over the years. The one lesson that I learned late was the importance of having a few recipes that could be made quickly if unexpected guests dropped in, or even a neighbor who was lonesome and just needed to share a simple supper to feel better. These recipes are "emergency recipes," and I keep a file of them, ready at all times for the spontaneous meal. They call for ingredients that you need to always have on hand. Emergency Soup is a fine example of what I mean. I serve it with a green salad and warm crackers."

4 cups chicken broth*
1 carrot
1 rib celery
1 medium onion
1 cup small shell pasta, uncooked
Salt and black pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)

Put the broth in a pot and bring to a boil. Grate the carrot, celery, and onion into the broth. Add the pasta and simmer for 5 minutes. Bite into a pasta shell; when it is tender, the soup is done. Correct the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed. A lot depends on how highly seasoned your broth is; some canned chicken broths tend to be quite salty.

Serve in bowls and sprinkle with some grated Parmesan cheese.

VARIATION:
In summer you might replace the carrot, celery, and onion with 2 unpeeled zucchini grated directly into the broth.

Makes 8 cups

*About Chicken Broth
A lot of recipes call for a certain amount of chicken broth in either soups or sauces. Today we get excellent canned chicken broths, so there's no need to make your own. But if you do want to and have extra chicken parts such as backbones, necks (if you can get them), and gizzards (not livers), it is very simple to make a flavorful broth. I find that if you get in the habit of cutting up the whole chicken yourself to use the breast, legs, thighs, and wings in a recipe, pretty soon you will collect these leftover parts in your freezer and have enough to make broth.

To make the broth: Just simmer about 2 cups of raw chicken pieces in 2 quarts of water, with a medium onion, a few cut-up carrots, and parsley stems or celery leaves if you have them; season with a little salt and pepper (not too much because the broth cooks down and the flavors intensify). Cook gently for about 1 1/2 hours, then strain off the broth. And there you have it-about 6 cups of chicken broth to store and use as you wish. And it didn't cost you a cent.

A lot of people use leftover cooked chicken bones to make broth, but I find that the final flavor of the soup lacks character and depth. Because of this, I would recommend using the cooked carcass and adding at least some raw chicken parts to liven up the soup. You can even buy a small package of wings for that purpose.

Source: Lost Recipes: Meals to Share with Friends and Family by Marion Cunningham