Turkey Noodle Soup

I made us a turkey on Tuesday, it's a cheap way to cook meat just once for the whole week. So, yes, we'll be eating turkey all week.  Tuesday night I also made the stock for my turkey noodle soup using the turkey frame and it worked amazingly well for the soup we had last night.


This soup is pure comfort food for me...I had three helpings of it and can't wait to eat the leftovers. My nonveggie eaters at least ate the turkey and noodles out of their bowls. :)

Turkey Noodle Soup
1 meaty turkey frame
8 cups water
1 medium onion, quartered
1 gluten-free chicken bouillon cube (I used Edward & Sons Not-Chick'n Bouillon Cubes, because they have it right on the box that it's gluten-free)
1 bay leaf
Chopped turkey (total amount needed is at least 2 cups)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 1/2 cups gluten-free dried pasta
1 teaspoon dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Break turkey frame into pieces.  Place in an 8 to 10 quart dutch oven.  Add water, onion, bouillon cube, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

2. Remove the turkey frame.  When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones.  Discard bones and skin.  Cut meat into bite-size pieces, if needed add enough chopped cooked turkey to equal at least 2 cups, set the meat aside.  Discard bay leaf.

3. Strain the broth, discarding solids. Skim fat from broth. (Since I did this the night before, I placed the broth in a tupperware container in the fridge, by the next day the fat was very easy to skim off the top). Note: If you are making the broth the day before, this is when you would store everything in the fridge until you are ready to make the soup.

3. Place the broth in a large saucepan, or back into the same dutch oven. Bring the broth to a boil.  Stir in carrot and celery.  Reduce and simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes.  Add in the pasta and cook until tender, but firm, time will depend on the type of pasta you are using, mine took about 7 minutes.  Stir in turkey and parsley and heat through. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

This post is featured on Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.