chicken noodle style pappardelle.

i’m getting ready to say bye-bye, ta-ta, toodle loo mf-er to winter. the sun has been shining in seattle the last few days, and i am so excited for the first signs of spring. but sure is cold here still…..brrrrrrrrr.

this chicken noodle style pappardelle dish is so cozy and delish with all kinds of herbs & spices. those big fat pappardelle noodles are too. good. to. be. true.

plus, i love anything that serves as a canvas for all the black pepper. more black pepper for me, the better.

the tiny bit of turmeric in here makes the noodles bright yellow and adds some earthy depth to the whole dish. be careful with that stuff and rinse your kitchen tools & bowls right away - it kinda stains!

you could make this into a true chicken noodle soup by using extra broth and fewer noodles. don’t forget to add some extra salt to taste.

this version is more of a pappardelle dish in the style of chicken noodle soup :) you may know that i don’t give much of a hoot about liquid brothy soups and i’m just here for all the textures.

pappardelle is such a treat and i always feel fancy when i get to buy some specialty pasta from the nice part of the store, lol. can’t wait to use the rest in something different, like stroganoff.

enjoy these scrumptious late winter noods!

Chicken Noodle Style Pappardelle

Serves 4-6

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, diced

• 1-2 celery stalks, sliced into bits

• 4 large carrots, sliced

• 2 TB. unsalted butter

• 1 chicken breast, cooked & shredded

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

• 1/4 tsp. paprika

• 1/2 tsp. turmeric

• juice of 1 lemon, divided in half

• 32 - 40 ounces low-sodium chicken broth

• 4-8 ounces uncooked pappardelle noodles

• fresh thyme sprigs & sage leaves

• green onions, sliced

Instructions-

Cook and season the chicken breast as desired and shred on a cutting board. Toss the shredded chicken breast in juice of 1/2 a lemon & black pepper. Chop and dice all the vegetables.

Heat a large stock pot or dutch oven to medium heat and melt the butter. Add the diced onion and cook 3-5 minutes until translucent and browned, stirring frequently. Add the chopped celery and carrots and toss everything to cook a few more minutes until slightly tender. Add the salt, black pepper, paprika, and turmeric and stir. Add some fresh thyme sprigs and sage leaves to the pot.

Add the shredded chicken and chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir everything well and lower to a light rolling simmer. Add the uncooked pappardelle and toss with tongs, cooking for about 10 minutes until the noodles are tender. Squeeze the other half of lemon all over and toss to combine.

If you’d prefer a true chicken noodle soup, use more chicken broth and fewer noodles. Add extra salt & pepper to taste.

For noodles like I made in these photos, use 32 ounces of chicken broth and 8 ounces of uncooked pappardelle noodles.

Serve in bowls with extra thyme sprigs, sliced green onion, and plenty of black pepper. Store in covered dutch oven or airtight container in the fridge and reheat as needed. Enjoy within 3 days.

qp

best ever tuna melt.

boy do i love a good tuna melt.

i remember the first time i had tuna melts with my neighbor growing up (hi katy!)…except i thought she called them “tuna boats.” maybe she did. i thought they were called tuna boats for a long time. her family would make them open-face on bagels with tuna and cheddar.

i think this might have been some of my first experiences using a big oven, besides chocolate chip cookies. i think we attempted making tuna melts in the microwave and we quickly learned that that was disgusting.

we’d make a lot of other microwaved delicacies like tortillas with refried beans and cheese, marshmallows on graham crackers, hot pockets…all the classics. then we’d do weird stuff like set the microwave for 30 seconds and see how many times we could run around the living room and back down the hall to the kitchen before it beeped. this is what pre-internet 90’s kids did for fun!

i’m sure once our tuna boats made it safely out of the oven, we’d plop down to watch full house or one of the other greats of our childhood. gooooooood times.

my grown up tuna melt is so very delicious.

adding the right mixture of ingredients to the tuna is key. plain tuna with mayo is fine, but i highly encourage you to make your tuna with mayo, black pepper and a pinch of salt, pepperoncini juice and sliced green onions.

i don’t know how to spell pepperoncini and i don’t think the internet does either. it either has 1 P or 2 P’s and an N in the middle or no N, and nobody seems to know what’s right. the jar says “peperoncini.” anyhoo…

the green onion and pepperoncini juice and black pepper really do it for me on a tuna melt.

if i’m making plain tuna sandwiches, peter likes chopped up dill pickles and a splash of pickle juice, but on a tuna melt i personally just want the flavor of the green onion instead. and the pepperoncini juice gives it that acidic kick. pete and i have strong, strong opinions against sweet pickles in tuna sandwiches and/or fried chicken sandwiches orrrr anywhere, lol. we’ve come across so many restaurants that use sweet pickles in these items and we are plum confused by it. dill pickles or nothing! in this case, pepperoncini juice.

pepperoncinis remind me of quizno’s. another throwback delicacy of my late youth. it’s not so great anymore, but in the early 2000’s quizno’s was the jam. that honey bacon clubbbbbb of 2001…mmmmm. “they got a peppa barrrrrr!”

this particular size of tuna melt could be cut in two and shared - buuut if you’re really really hungry you could eat the whole thing :)

it’s my favorite combo of all the things and it’s tuna melt perfection in my eyes. i hope you try it!

Best Ever Tuna Melt

Serves 1-2, Easily Multiplied

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• (1) 7-ounce can tuna fish, drained well (I use Albacore in water)

• 2 TB mayonnaise

• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

• big pinch of salt

• 1-2 TB pepperoncini juice, or dill pickle juice

• 3 green onion shoots

• 2-3 slices sharp cheddar cheese

• 1/2 a large avocado

• handful of fresh arugula

• (1) 1” thick slice of good sourdough bread

Instructions-

Slice the sourdough bread and toast it in a pan on medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil until golden. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F, or use the broiler.

Drain the tuna fish in the can and add the tuna to a bowl with the mayonnaise, salt & pepper, green onions and pepperoncini or dill pickle juice. Mash everything with a fork until well combined. If too dry, add extra pepperoncini juice or mayo.

With the grilled bread on a baking sheet, top it with the tuna mixture. Place the slices of sharp cheddar cheese on top. Place the baking sheet in the oven or broiler for about 3-5 minutes, until the cheese is super melty.

Remove from oven and top with sliced avocado, extra chopped green onion, and fresh arugula.

Enjoy immediately!

qp