The Alchemist Diaries

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” ― from Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

This is the ultimate season… for colds!

I adore October, but for some reason this is also the month where sickness sweeps over the household. Like clockwork, it is on time, keeping us bound up in covers and quilts. However, something really amazing came out of this particular month: Pumpkin Chicken Noodle Soup

We have a modest garden that has produced a rather fruitful harvest this year of beans, peas, corn, squash, melons, and herbs. Out of both convenience and need (we were bound inside and needed to also save some money), I experimented to make a soup that would soothe us as we worked through our infections.

I felt a bit cheeky throwing whatever we had on hand into my teal cauldron (Dutch oven). A Wiccan friend of mine passed along a funny quote where she told me, “Soup is Witchcraft. We put plants, spices, and dead animals into a cauldron and follow the instructions in an ancient book.”

I bent over laughing. Considering I love witches, I now think this very thing anytime I make a soup. Perhaps I even felt a little spark of magic creating this one. The soup that resulted from our quarantine and the abundance in our garden is this Pumpkin Chicken Noodle Soup.

With jasmine and ginger incense burning to drive away impurities and supposedly strengthen the spirit, we created what is now our household’s favorite chicken noodle soup.

For this soup, we made our own pesto sauce out of the Thai and Genovese basil we grew and pistachios. We also used the fresh lemon thyme, rosemary, and marjoram in our garden, and our own pinkeye purple hull peas. If you can get a hold of fresh pumpkin or squash and puree it yourself, even better. However, always use the ingredients available to you. Use store bought varieties of everything you cannot grab from your yard. No hard feelings or judgements. For extra flavor, I recommend smoked paprika and applewood smoked sea salt. If not, regular old sea salt or Kosher salt will do.

The color of your soup may differ depending on the kind of pesto sauce you use, so do not be alarmed if yours ends up more green than my more orangey soup.

Ingredients

• 1 lbs (450g) chicken (breasts, thighs, or drumsticks)
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 1 bunch thyme
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 bunch marjoram
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion (roughly chopped)
• 8 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 2 green onion (sliced)
• 2 carrots (peeled and sliced)
• 9oz/255g fresh corn
• 32oz (900ml) bone stock or chicken broth
• 15oz/425g pumpkin puree or squash
• 1 cup/200g pesto sauce
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup/200g peas
• 1 cup/150g egg noodles
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 225°F/110°C.
2. Wash and pat dry the chicken. Season it with the paprika and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven.
4. Sear the chicken on medium heat until brown on both sides and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the heat and set it aside in a warm place.
5. Heat another 2 tbsp of olive oil in the same Dutch oven and sauté the onions, garlic, and herbs on medium heat until fragrant and translucent. Add the carrots and corn, and sauté for another 10 minutes on low to medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and stir.
6. Add the stock, pumpkin, vinegar, and bay leaves. Shred the chicken and add it to the soup.
7. Bring the soup to a simmer. Cover the Dutch oven and place it into the oven. Cook the soup for 1 hour.
8. Remove the soup from the oven, then carefully stir in the peas, egg noodles, and the 2 last tbsp of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Replace the lid and cook the soup in the oven for another 30 to 45 minutes or until the noodles are fully cooked.
10. Allow the soup to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.