So far this year I’ve managed to avoid being struck down with a man-flu ... that was until yesterday when I felt absolutely abysmal.

We all know that chicken soup has magical restorative healing powers but as my friends will tell you I can be a bit of a food snob and really don’t care much for the canned variety. In fact I do pretty much everything in my powers to avoid it.

Why avoid canned soup? Have you read the ingredients list on the side of those cans? The meat content would struggle to break the 2% mark and they are off the scale in terms of artificial flavours, preservatives and sodium levels.

My tummy was telling me it was time for some Potato and Leek soup, my favourite of all soups and some real comfort food so I rugged myself up and wandered down to the fruit market in search of some leeks.

As I made my way, bleary eyed, down the aisles I was caught off guard by a pre-packaged “Soup Pack”. Mabye it was the cold and flu medication talking but I felt a brief moment of inspiration and thought I would see what could be done.

At $2.99 it is perceived as reasonable value to the consumer but I am sure Harris Farm are making a killing on the margin. At least, as a consumer, I don’t have to spend $1.50 on an entire bunch of celery only to use 2 stalks and have the rest rot away in my kitchen.

The soup pack itself contained:

So here is my recipe for a quick restorative chicken noodle soup.

1 x Soup Pack (see ingredients above)
1.5L good quality chicken stock (not powedered)
1 chicken breast, finely diced
50g angel hair pasta or spaghetti broken up into 3-4cm pieces (about a large handful)
olive oil

There is no need to peel the vegetables (except the onion) - just trim the tops and bottoms, then dice.

1.       Finely dice the onions and put them in a bowl.

2.       Finely dice all the other root vegetables (celery, parsnip, carrots, potato, swede) and put them in a separate bowl.

3.       Remove half of the parsley leaves and finely chop. You want about 1 tablespoon worth – keep these to one side.

4.       If your soup pack has a celery tip like mine did, take the tip and the rest of the parsley and stalks and tie them together with kitchen twine. We’ll use this to help add flavour to the stock.

5.       Put a large stock pot over a medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

6.       Throw in the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened.

7.       Now add the remaining root vegetables and cook, stirring constantly for a further 5 minutes.

8.       Add the chicken stock and celery tip/parsley thing and stir to combine.

9.       Cover with a lid and bring to the boil.

10.   Reduce heat to low, keep the pot covered and simmer for 15 minutes. Give it a stir every 5 minutes.

11.   Add the diced chicken breast and pasta, cover again and cook for a further 10 minutes.

12.   Remove from heat and use a pair of tongs to carefully remove the celery tip/parsley thing.

13.   Stir through the diced parsley leaves and ladle into big bowls – enjoy!