Lemon Chicken "Noodle" Soup and Bob's Sausage Crust Deep Dish Pizza

Two Recipes, One Post

I often feel like I’m going 120 miles per hour in a high speed convertible, and I don’t have time to stop and get the bugs out of my eyes or brush my hair.

The week between Christmas and New Years is for me always the most quiet and contemplative time of year. Sure, there is work, there are emails, there is recipe development, there is responding to social media, but everything is running at only about 25% of normal capacity.

And I love it more than anything.

I will spend my time pondering my intentions and goals for 2022, cleaning the house, organizing all the piles of stuff I said I would get to months ago. I will take down that tree by 3pm on Sunday January 2nd and prepare the house to usher in the beautiful new year.

I know that this is the week to keep things simple with food as I’d rather enjoy my downtime than cook constantly like prepping for Christmas.

By the time you receive this email, I’ve already made three marinara meals: Balls N Sauce (from the Marinara Meals PDF), Hearty Tomato Stew (from Eat Happy), and Bob Zimmer’s Lou Malnoti’s Style Sausage Crust Pizza (recipe below). I used jarred sauce for all three of these recipes to shorten my time spent cooking. My sauce. The best damn sauce on the planet.

I’m also thrilled to share with you my new winter soup recipe creation. Lemon Chicken “Noodle” Soup. It’s so easy to make, and you probably have all the ingredients on hand. You are welcome to sub dry herbs for the fresh herbs. But definitely use the zucchini noodles and don’t fall asleep on the lemon, which brightens up the flavor and the winter blues.

Marinara meals and soup are the opposite of traditional American Christmas food in theme and flavor, plus they’re easy to make, don’t need carbs, and most of all, delicious. Enjoy this week’s recipes, and thank you to Bob for sharing his genius with us!

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Bob Zimmer’s Lou Malnoti’s Style Deep Dish Sausage Crust Pizza

Photo by Bob Zimmer

God bless Bob Zimmer. He’s an admin in the Eat Happy Facebook group, a delightful human, and quite frankly, the inspiration for what many of us make for dinner.

Every month I’d like to feature a recipe from one of our community here, and Bob was gracious enough to let me share his recipe for a Lou Malnoti’s style sausage crust pizza that is keto, low carb, NSNG.

We are talking deep dish Chicago style pizza. I’ve been to Lou Malnoti’s and had this very same meat-crust pizza, but surprise surprise, Bob’s homemade version is way BETTER.

Plus, this recipe is the best use of a springform pan I’ve seen since my Pumpkin Cheesecake.

I make it using a jar of Eat Happy Kitchen marinara because now that I’ve started selling my own sauce in jars, I never make it homemade anymore. No .

Here’s where you can download the PDF Bob was so kind to make so you can make your own Deep Dish Sausage Crust Pizza.

Here’s a video on Facebook where Bob makes the pizza for you.

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Lemon Chicken “Noodle” Soup

Photo by Anna Vocino of Lemon Chicken “Noodle” Soup

This Lemon Chicken “Noodle” Soup is the antidote to rich holiday food. It’s filling but it also feels like you’re eating your medicine if you happen to be coming down with the winter crud (or worse). The brightness of lemon takes this soup to the next level, and the zucchini noodles give it a crunch and texture that will make you want to cook this all winter long.

I strongly, highly, and firmly recommend you make homemade chicken broth before making this recipe. If you’re keeping your bones and making broth each week, you should be good to go. But if you don’t know what I’m talking about, then let this be your winter wake-up call to make broth with your leftover chicken bones on the regs. The recipe for a quick bone broth is at my site. Homemade broth kicks store-bought square in the rear, so make the homemade-broth-habit the one that takes in 2022. You will not regret it. Nor will you regret making this Lemon Chicken “Noodle” Soup.

Warning: if you have to use store-bought chicken broth (no shade), you most likely will have to season with additional salt. Season and taste as you are moving through the recipe.

Download printable version of Lemon Chicken “Noodle” Soup here.

Lemon Chicken "Noodle" Soup

(Serves 4-6)

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more for seasoning

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

8 cups homemade chicken broth

2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken

2 zucchini, spiralized and salted

1 teaspoon minced lemon zest

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Soft boiled eggs, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a Le Creuset or similar Dutch oven, heat olive oil to medium high heat, until shimmering. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and thyme and stir until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add in homemade chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add chicken pieces, reduce heat to a simmer/low boil. Let cook 10 minutes. Give zucchini noodles a couple of chops so the pieces are shorter. Add them to soup and cook an additional 5-10 minutes, or until noodles are al dente. Remove soup from heat and stir in lemon zest and lemon juice. Season with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Serve garnished with soft boiled eggs.