This is one of my most requested recipes. This recipe is also one of the easiest in my repertoire. 
This has become known as the “Poker Soup” , since it’s served whenever poker is hosted at my house.
While this soup is easy to make, there are a couple key steps and ingredients that will make or break it. Insert suspenseful music here ……
The heart and soul of this recipe is preparation of the chicken. Yes, there are short cuts around this, but the soup will not be as flavorful.
The How
Start with two bone in, skin on split chicken breast.
Why bone in, skin on? This is must. As the chicken simmers, the fat and favor from the skin and bones render into the broth. This broth is the foundation of this soup. Using a boneless , skinless chicken breast will not produce nearly the same results. Don’t make the flavor gods cry, bone in , skin on.
Salt each breast, all sides liberally with kosher salt.
Heat oil in a dutch oven or stock pot. My preference has always been a heavy ceramic dutch oven.
Brown all sides of the breasts.
Once all sides have been browned, add enough chicken broth to cover the breast half way up the sides. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover. Make sure the broth is not boiling. Boiling the chicken will yield rubbery results. Reserve the broth.
When time allows, I simmer the chicken for 3 hours plus. A minimum of 2 hours will work, but the longer the better. The results are worth the wait for two reasons:
1. The resulting broth will be rich in flavor. This is the key to the soup ;
2. As the chicken simmers, the fat and other flavorful bits of goodness transfers to the broth. The chicken becomes fall off the bone tender. The tenderness leads to chicken that easy to shred with a fork.
The broth on the left is the store bought uncooked broth, while the broth on the right is the result of a long simmer. #flavor
Remove the chicken from the pan, reserve the broth.
The chicken fell off the bone and shredded like a dream.
Combine the remaining broth with broth in the pan. Bring the broth to a boil. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. In the bowl with the eggs combine the chopped basil and cheese. Mix well.
Reduce the broth to a slow boil , add the egg mixture to the broth.
Add the pasta. Allow the pasta to cook. Return the chicken to the soup. Add the chopped spinach. Simmer the soup for a couple minutes longer and serve. Enjoy as is or add grated cheese.
The Goods
Serves 6 with leftovers
112 oz of low sodium chicken broth
2 bone in , with skin split chicken breast
3 eggs beaten
1/2 cup fresh chopped basil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, more for serving
2 cup chopped baby spinach (prewashed)
1/3lb of pastina or any small soup noodle
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