Have you ever considered just how many different kinds of noodles exist? There are hundreds of different varieties! If you look at Italy’s cuisine, you can find ravioli, capellini, tagliatelle, ziti, fettuccine, spaghetti, linguine, and vermicelli, just to name a hand full. Once you step outside of Italian cuisine, you can find more, like soba, udon and ramen versions, rice, and glass are also available. If you like to make your own pasta, you can make many different kinds.
Since noodles are a favorite ingredient to add to chicken soup, you have many to choose from. If your soup is traditional like Grandma used to make, homemade noodles would be the perfect choice. If you do not have the time, you can add any of the Italian noodles to your kettle. Traditional egg noodles come in a wide variety of shapes that will make your soup fun for the kids.
If you like Asian chicken soup, you may want to choose soba, udon or ramen noodles. A Thai soup would be perfect with glass noodles. Every type of noodle has a purpose and place. When you learn about each kind of noodle, it will help you know which one to choose for your recipe.
If you are following a traditional Italian recipe, you may notice that their small pasta is for soup. They call it pastini. Pastini comes in all sorts of different shapes ranging from tiny stars and letters of the alphabet to rings and tubs. You can find twists of pasta and tiny sea shells. You may be able to find some of these in the grocery store, but others will only be found in specialty shops.
It is traditional to serve pastini in a clear broth to children and those who are ill. Larger sizes of the same shapes are often used in thicker soups such as minestrone or chicken vegetable. If you are lucky enough to live near an Italian market, you might be able to choose from hundreds of varieties of pasta.
When you are making your own soup you can use your imagination and not be tied down to tradition when it comes to choosing what goes into your recipe. Use your favorite forms of pasta… even if they are large shapes like sea shells. This is all part of the joy of making your own soup… you get to choose how it turns out.
Whatever ones you end up with, leave them until the end of cooking to add them to your soup or you will end up with mush. Noodles cook swiftly. If you want really great soup, cook your pasta in a separate pot and add them after they have been drained just before serving your soup.
As you make more soups, you will see that you and your family will tend to pick favorite recipes as well as favorite noodle shapes and types. Go with it. Let your creativity flow and let the family chime in with their preferences. If no one likes tiny noodles, by all means do not use them. Likewise for long noodles. Macaroni works well in soup, so if your family prefers macaroni let them enjoy it.
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