Creamy chicken noodle soup with mini croutons

A from-scratch take on comfort in a bowl, where bacon-infused broth meets tender chicken and gets its silky richness from butter and love, not cream.

Ingredients

• 400g/10oz chicken breast ((2 small), cut in half horizontally to form 2 thin steaks (sub boneless thighs))
• 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• 1/4 tbsp black pepper
• 4 strips streaky bacon ((enough to cover base of pot))
• 30g/ 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 onion (, finely diced)
• 2 garlic cloves (, finely minced)
• 2 sprigs thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme ((optional))
• 2 celery stalks (, chopped (~0.5 x 1.2 cm / 1/5 x 1/2" pieces))
• 1 carrot (, chopped (0.5 x 1 cm / 1/5 x 1/2" pieces))
• 3/4 cup corn kernels ((frozen thawed or canned drained))
• 4 tbsp flour
• 3 cups milk (, full fat best but low fat ok (non-dairy ok too))
• 2 cups low sodium chicken stock/broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp cooking salt
• 1 1/3 cups (100g) broken angel hair pasta ( OR angel hair pasta / spaghetti broken into 6 pieces, or other small, spoon-able pasta)
• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped parsley (, optional)
• 1 cup bread ((crustless) cut into 7mm / 1/4" cubes – sourdough type is crunchier, regular sandwich bread is fine too)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Pinch cooking salt / kosher salt

Instructions

1. Croutons – Preheat the oven to 180°C/3450°F (160°C fan-forced). Toss the bread with the oil and salt. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, tossing halfway, until golden and fully crisp (some breads take longer eg sourdough). Cool on the tray, set aside.
2. Season chicken – Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with the salt and pepper.
3. Crispy bacon – Place the bacon in a single layer in an un-heated, large pot. Turn the heat onto medium high then cook the bacon until golden on both sides (~2-3 minutes first side, 1 1/2 minutes second side). (Note 2). Remove bacon (leave fat in pot), drain on paper towels. It will crisp as it cools. Finely chop, set aside for garnish.
4. Cook chicken – Using the same pot, still hot, cook the chicken in the tasty bacon fat for 1 1/2 minutes on each side until light golden. Remove onto a plate. Once cool enough to handle, chop into small 8 mm / 1/3" cubes.
5. Broth – Lower heat to medium high. In the same pot, melt the butter. Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, thyme sprigs. Cook 5 minutes until the carrot is softened, stirring regularly (don’t let the onion brown). Add flour and stir for 1 minute. While stirring, slowly pour the milk in. Once the flour is dissolved, add the stock, water and salt, then stir.
6. Simmer – Turn the heat up to high and bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then. (The soup will seem thin, it thickens as the pasta cooks. Trust!)
7. Pasta – Turn the heat back up to high. Add the pasta and corn. Cook for 5 minutes or until pasta is soft, adding the peas and chicken (including any juices pooled) for the last 2 minutes of cook time.
8. Serve – Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with bacon, croutons and a pinch of parsley. Eat!