2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley minced, for meatballs
1 garlic clove minced, for meatballs
1/4 teaspoon onion powder for meatballs
1 teaspoon kosher salt for meatballs
Freshly ground black pepper for meatballs
1/3 cup plain dried breadcrumbs or matzo meal for meatballs
1 pound ground chicken ideally a mix of dark and light meat, for meatballs
6 ounces soup noodles of your choice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup carrots diced
1 cup celery diced
1 cup onion diced
4 to 6 cups chicken broth
Minced parsley and/or dill to finish
Equipment
large bowl
parchment lined baking sheet or tray
medium saucepan
large saucepan or braiser
Directions
In a large bowl, combine egg, milk, parsley, garlic, breadcrumbs, onion powder, salt, and many grinds of black pepper. Add ground chicken and use a fork to mix just until parsley is distributed throughout mixture, trying not to overmix. Use wet hands to shape mixture into 1 tablespoon-sized meatballs, arranging them on a parchment lined baking sheet or tray. The meatball mixture will be very soft but keeping your hands wet should help it roll off. Place meatballs in the fridge until you're ready to use them.
In a medium saucepan, bring salted water (or water with some chicken bouillon added for flavor) to a boil and cook noodles according to their package directions. Cook until tender. Drain and set in a bowl until needed.
In a large saucepan (or, my favorite braiser), heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook, stirring, until partly tender, about 6 minutes. Add 4 cups of the broth and bring it to a simmer. Carefully add chilled meatballs, one at a time, and bring broth back to a simmer. Simmer meatballs for 10 minutes, checking one at the end to make sure it's cooked through and adding more time if needed. If meatballs have absorbed a lot of broth, add 1 or 2 cups of the remaining chicken broth, bringing it back to a simmer. Taste broth for seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Spoon cooked noodles, to taste, into your bowl, then ladle broth and meatballs over. Finish with chopped herbs.
Keeping the meatballs/broth mixture and noodles separate is ideal for storing leftovers, too. Reheat soup over medium-low heat in a covered pot until simmering. Let the soup warm the noodles when serving.