Rosie Kellett's Heal Me Chicken Noodle Soup

An anytime of the year recipe to save the day

I’m of the firm belief that you should have at least one heal me recipe in your personal arsenal whether it’s to nurture the body, the mind, or both. Ideally you have a whole repertoire of feelgood dishes on your side.

This recipe comes from Rosie Kellett of The Late Plate whose interview you can find here; a chat about the path to her forthcoming book In For Dinner, changing direction in your thrities, and what she thinks of going viral.

I’ll be honest that this was my second choice dish when discussing with Rosie what we’d run today. I wanted to bring you her very good burnt Basque cheesecake but that beauty is earmarked for the book, albeit you can subscribve to Rosie’s Substack to grab it now. Over to Rosie…

I have been every kind of eater in my life, I’ve been vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, full blown carnivorous cave woman and everything in between. I’m generally led by what my body is craving and almost always refuse to label my dietary choices, for once you tell someone you don’t eat meat, then it becomes a really big deal when you do. My feeling is we should be led by what makes our bodies and our minds feel good. I have very strong feelings about the kind of meat I am happy to eat, about farming practices and the importance of regenerative farming in the climate crisis we are living through. Essentially, I don’t tend to eat meat unless I get a deep and specific craving for something, in this case, chicken noodle soup. And when that happens, I go to my butcher and buy the best quality chicken thighs I can afford and see it as a once in a while luxury. I have no interest or desire to consume meat daily, nor can I afford to when I don’t feel comfortable buying cheap, factory farmed lesser quality produce. This is a system that works for me, I don’t feel guilty for eating meat when I do, because I buy the best and I take responsibility for where it comes from, and I don’t do it all that often. The one thing that I really miss and always, without fail, crave when I am sick, is chicken noodle soup. My favourite variety being a Vietnamese-ish pho style soup. Lots of aromatics, slick with glossy chicken fatty stock, slippery rice noodles and HEAPS of thinly sliced scallions, golden garlic & sesame. To me, there isn’t much this soup couldn’t heal; the flu, a bad cough, covid, a broken heart - it’s just correct on all levels.

For those days when you need a cosy umami laden broth to cradle your bones and nourish you back to full health, whether that’s in the dead of winter or the height of summer, it’s always correct. You can use any type of noodles, I prefer the flat rice variety but you could use instant ramen noodles, egg noodles, vermicelli, udon or even pasta! I encourage you to try and get the very best quality chicken you can afford, it’s better for the planet and will be SO much more delicious.

The Recipe…