Saturday, October 9, 2010

Making Your Soup Special… Adding Noodles

Have you ever taken a look at how many noodles there are? There is an incredible amount available! From Italy alone, we get fettuccine, vermicelli, fusilli, ravioli, linguine, capellini, spaghetti, farfalle, tagliatelle, and ziti, just to name a few. If you leave Italy, you can find glass, rice, egg, soba, udon, and ramen are all popular choices for noodles. If you make homemade noodles, you can make many different varieties.

Chicken noodle soup is a traditional favorite of young and old alike. With so many kinds to choose from, it can be a bit different every time. If you like making traditional soup like Grandma made, homemade versions are a perfect choice. If you do not have the extra time to make them from scratch, choose any of the Italian noodles. Egg noodles come in a wide range of shapes and sizes and will make eating soup fun for your children.

If you like Asian chicken soup, you may want to choose soba, udon or ramen noodles. A Thai soup would be perfect with glass noodles. Every type of noodle has a purpose and place. When you learn about each kind of noodle, it will help you know which one to choose for your recipe.

If you are following traditional Italian recipes, you should know that their small pasta is used in soup. This type of pasta is known as pastini. It comes in many different shapes ranging from tiny ears to stars to letters of the alphabet. You can find some that look like grains of rice and others that look like tiny rings. You should be able to find some of these shapes in the local store. Others can be found only in specialty shops.

These tiny noodles are usually served in a clear broth of chicken or beef. They are a favorite of children and those who are recovering from illness. You will notice that larger versions of these noodles will be used in thicker soups like minestrone. If you are lucky enough to live near a real Italian market, you may find hundreds of pasta varieties.

When you are choosing your own soup recipes, you are not restricted to tradition when it comes to choosing your ingredients. You can use your favorite noodles in your soup… even if your favorites are large shells or lasagna noodles. That is part of the fun of making your own soup… you get to call the shots and design your own.

Regardless of which you choose, do not ever add them too early. Noodles do not take very long to cook, and when they get overcooked, they turn to mush. For the very best pasta, cook it separately in another pot and add them toward the end of cooking.

The more frequently you make soup, the easier it will be to learn which ones are your favorites. Let the kids pick a different shape or color once in awhile. Let your imagination go and enjoy making soup. If they do not like the big noodles… do not use them. If they do not like the tiny noodles… do not use them either. Let everyone have a voice in choosing what they think will be fun to eat. Even macaroni works well in soup. Give it a try.

Find the perfect chicken soup recipe at the site that is more than just chicken noodle soup, ChickenNoodleSoups.com

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