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Oh hey! I have Monday dinner perfection for you today!
What could be better than a bowl of chicken noodle soup on a cozy Monday night? Umm, one with the cheesiest piece of fontina toast ever. Yes, Iโve got that!
Iโm sure you guys have noticed, but Iโm pretty excited about this whole fall season thatโs happening right now. October is one of my most favorite months of the year and I am trying to soak up every minute of these crisp sunny days, even breaking free from work for a late afternoon walk with my mom on Friday! Granted it was a busy weekend full of cookbook edits and video making and family hanging, but I somehow managed to pack a ton in!
Love when that happens!
Now that Monday is here though, Iโm feeling the need to ease back into the work week, and chicken noodle soup just seamed like the perfect recipe to help with the hustle and bustle that comes with Monday. OkOK, and Iโve been on a serious soup kick lately, itโs kind of all I ever want to make. Letโs just say I already have my Thanksgiving soup recipes plannedโฆ and I am pretty pumped about them!
Hereโs the thing about me and soup though. I am the type of person who likes a hearty soup. Meaning a soup with some carbs and some texture. A full broth soup is not something I normally go for, though it does have its time and placeโฆtoday is not that day.
Nope, todayโs soup is loaded with pasta, cheese and pumpkin!
Um, yes please!! Anything with pasta, cheese and pumpkin is always a major yes in my mind.
So, here โs how this Italian pumpkin and kale chicken noodle soup with fontina toast breaks down.
โฆfirst up is your holy grail of all chicken noodle soups โ say hello to onions, garlic and herbsโฆ.and in this case, rosemary, sage and thyme as well. Traditionally there would be carrots and celery, but I swapped the carrots for pumpkin and well, I just donโt love celery, so I said goodbye to the celery.
โฆthen comes the broth, obviously going to need that.
โฆup next is the chicken. I used chicken breasts because the people I am feeding have this seriously weird issue with chicken thighs and have convinced themselves that thighs are gross. Ugh. They just do not understand that thighs add all the flavor. Whatever, I am over it.ย You can use your favorite, breasts or thighs!
โฆfrom here the soup simmers away, develops a whole bunch of flavor and makes your house smell amazing.
โฆtime for the kale and the pasta! I used baby kale and a cute little pumpkin shaped pasta,ย so fun! Also, donโt judge me for buying pumpkin shaped pasta. Iโm just a dork who canโt resist fall everything. <โtruth.
โฆfinally, the cheesy fontina toastโฆ buttered bread, melted fontina and fresh sage. <โaka the reason to make this soup!
Chicken noodle soup perfection, right?
When it comes to Monday, I typically look at it as the most difficult day of the week to get through, but when soup like this is involved, I can actually get a little excited for Monday night. Maybe cozy up by the fire with a good TV show and bowl of soupโฆwith a double side of cheesy toast โ of course.
Yup, I can get excited about that!
Oh, and on a completely random note, has anyone else noticed all the Christmas emails flooding their inbox or is that just me? I mean, I canโt say that I dislike the emails because looking at them gets me pretty excited, BUT at the same time I canโt help but think itโs way too early and we just need to like enjoy Halloween first, you know?
All that said, I totally bought Asher a Grinch Christmas ornament in Orlando last weekโฆoooopsies. Random note over.
Italian Pumpkin and Kale Chicken Noodle Soup with Fontina Toast.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small sweet onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- kosher salt + pepper, to taste
- 2 quarts low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cups small pumpkin, peeled + cut into cubes (about 3 )
- 3 small skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan + the rind of the parmesan
- 1-2 cups baby kale
- zest + juice of 1 lemon
- 1 pound short cut pasta
- 2 tablespoons butter
Fontina Toast
- 4 slices bread, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup shredded fontina cheese
- fresh chopped sage, for topping
Instructions
- Heat a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. Once hot, add the onion. Cook until the onion is soft, fragrant and beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, sage, rosemary and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, cook a minute longer or until fragrant.
- Slowly pour in the chicken broth. Add the pumpkin, chicken and parmesan cheese rind. Cover the pot and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily.
- After 25 minutes, shred the chicken and remove any bones that may be in the chicken. Add the kale, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook until the kale has wilted slightly, about 5-10 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt + pepper to your liking.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain and toss the noodles with the butter and grated parmesan.
- Meanwhile, make the toast. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Arrange the bread slices on a large baking sheet with sides. Spread each slice with butter and sprinkle with salt + pepper. Add the fontina evenly over each slice.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Sprinkle with sage.
- Remove the parmesan rind from the soup. Add the pasta to bowl and ladle the soup over the pasta. Top with fontina toast. Eat!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Soo soup and toast for dinner? Cool, letโs do this Monday!
Is there a way to make this in the instantpot? Or is on the stovetop easier?
Hey Ashley,
I honestly think stove top is easiest. Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
I made this but instead of pumpkin I used some butternut squash I had already on hand in the fridge. IT WAS AWESOME!! The toast is definitely something you don’t want to skip when making this. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!!!
Sounds DELISH!! So happy it was good!! thanks Jessica!
Soup is the only way I can eat kale so thank you for this recipe! ๐ It’s on the menu for next week.
Hope you love it, thanks Katrina!!
You had me at fontina toast… that’s always a must eat with soup!
Right?! Yes! Thanks so much Laura!
This is such a fun comfort food! If you’re a dork, that makes two of us because I also picked up a package of pasta with fall harvest shapes! lol I think they’re so fun and cute! This is such a creative way of making noodle soup. Of course, not that I was expecting any less from you! ๐
Haha thank you so much Sheila! SO happy you are loving this and these noodles!