Shabbos Chanukah soup

I posted this recipe for Shabbos Chanukah soup for the last two year...it's one of my dozen or so truly original recipes, and I like it enough to re-post it this year.

This year, Shabbos Chanukah comes out on December 14th  and 15th. We don't have kids, but we usually do have company on Shabbos Chanukah, and I always make this soup because our guests' kids love it (and most of the adults like it too).  It's nothing fancy or complicated, just basically my regular Shabbat chicken soup recipe with special Chanukah noodles.  If you are partial to your own chicken soup recipe, go ahead and use it with the noodles.  Enjoy.

Recipe notes:  I use leeks because I think they are a little milder and sweeter than onions, but feel free to substitute onions if you prefer.  Chicken or turkey necks make the soup much richer. Wild carrots have a whole different flavor and sweetness from the skinny ones you buy in a bag or (God forbid) the pre-peeled baby carrots.  I slice them horizontally to get bigger slices. I never use fresh dill in soup; it completely takes over the flavor of the soup.  The frozen dill cubes can be gotten at most supermarkets; we use the Dorot brand.  Starting the soup the night before, cooking it for a long time, letting it sit and then reheating it makes the soup taste better and gives it a great, golden color; I don't know why, but it does.

Ingredients:

• 1 large leek, cleaned, checked and chopped
• 6 chicken necks or 3 turkey necks
• 2 chicken bottoms
• 3 large wild carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally
• 2 yellow zucchini, sliced diagonally
• 1 parsnip, peeled and diced
• 1 turnip, peeled and diced
• 1 t. dried chives
• 4 frozen cubes dill

• 1 package lasagna noodles
• Chanukah cookie cutters (menorah and dreidel shapes...you can get them here if you don't already own them)

On the Thursday night before, combine the leeks, necks, chicken, carrots, zucchini, parsnip, turnip, chives and dill in a stockpot of salted water, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer. The soup should cook at a simmer all night.  Shut it off the next morning, let it cool and sit, skim the fat off the top, and then reheat right before Shabbos.  Now on to the noodles.

In a separate pot, cook the lasagna noodles in salted water until they are al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water and let the noodles cool.  (Kashrut tip:  if you boiled the noodles in a fleishig pot and your cookie cutters are pareve, let the noodles cool completely before using the cutters.)  Lay the cooked noodles out flat on a cutting board and press out the menorah and dreidel shapes with your Chanukah cookie cutters.  Keep the cut-out shapes wrapped in wax paper or parchment paper (so they don't stick to each other or dry out) in the fridge until you are ready to serve the soup.  You can make these up to a week in advance.

As you ladle the soup into bowls, float the noodle shapes on the top of the soup.  Voila, Shabbos Chanukah soup!

(If you have cookie cutters for various holidays or occasions, this recipe works well for any of them, i.e. crowns and graggers for Purim, etc.)

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