Extra-strength Penicillin Soup
a multi-generational flu and hangover cure
Many decades ago my dad’s mom made this soup for their family. I never got to meet her but I’m told she was ‘granola before anyone knew what that meant’ and very focused on whole foods and clean eating. She grew up in a German farming family in Kansas with many siblings. I like to imagine she made this on rainy evenings, with potatoes from my grandpa’s garden.
My mom continued the tradition of making this for me and my siblings. To me it’s about comfort and nutrients. Simple ingredients that are designed to make you feel better.
In college this became my hangover meal which sounds silly (because it is) but again: comfort and nutrients! What more do you need for a quick recovery? I would pick up chicken noodle soup and mashed potatoes from Central Market’s ready made section and bring it all home to heat up. I was in no position to be cooking a whole meal.
This past week I caught a nasty virus that kept me couch-bound and exhausted for most of the week. While it’s still summer, today is gloomy and rainy and I am still in recovery mode.
Recipe measurements for two people. This comes together in under 30 minutes.
Soup Ingredients:
1 chicken breast (from a rotisserie chicken is best)
1 1/2 cups egg noodles (dried)
1 celery stalk
1 medium or small carrot
1/2 of a vidalia or sweet onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 carton low sodium chicken broth
olive oil, salt, pepper, italian seasoning
Soup Instructions
Dice the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. I like to cut these pretty small but it depends on how chunk you like your chicken noodle soup.
Turn your burner to medium low heat. Add a glug of olive oil to your soup pot then add in the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and sweat on medium low heat for about 5 minutes. Everything should be softened and sweating.
Add in the full carton of chicken broth and turn the heat up to medium high. Once it begins simmering, add in the noodles and Italian seasoning.
While the noodles cook, shred your chicken breast into small pieces. If using a rotisserie chicken, I like to add in some of the chicken skin and the ‘chicken jelly’ from the bottom of the bag. This is fullllll of flavor and collagen!
Once the noodles are cooked (about 5 minutes), add in the chicken and stir. Turn the heat back to medium low. After about 5 additional minutes, your soup is ready!
Mashed Potato Ingredients:
2-3 large yellow potatoes (about 1.5 lbs total)
water, salt
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp boursin cheese (can replace with sour cream)
Potato Instructions
Peel your potatoes and cut them into large chunks of similar sizes. Add to a small pot and cover with water. Add in about a tablespoon of salt then bring to a low boil.
Boil potatoes until fork tender meaning you can easily stick your fork through the thickest potato. Turn the heat off and let them sit for another 5 minutes before draining.
Drain all of the water but keep the potatoes in the pot. We’ll use the residual heat to keep cooking. Add in butter and milk then use a masher or a whisk to break everything up until its mashed.
Add in the boursin and keep mashing. If you like your potatoes to be super fine with not even tiny chunks, run them through a fine mesh sieve. I don’t do that for this dish because it’s meant to be low effort and a bit rustic.
Add a dash of pepper and you’re all set!
Serving:
Split the mashed potatoes between two bowls.
Top with chicken noodle soup!
Save this for the next time you’re feeling under the weather or in need of some extra cozy, hydrating, nutrient dense recovery!
This recipe is a special one, I’m so happy I get to share it with you so that it can live on forever.
