After carving all of the meat from the soy-brined turkey, I didn’t think anything of chucking the carcass straight into the trash. However, as soon as the bones hit the liner, I instantly remembered that roasted bones equals kick ass broth, and immediately fished them out of the bin.

Since I had just spent the better part of the day cooking, I was glad to find a turkey broth recipe that was relatively hands-off and called for ingredients that I already had at home. Two hours of slow and low simmering extracted the turkey’s flavors into an all-purpose broth that eventually became the base for turkey noodle soup a few days later.

While I knew I would enjoy the turkey noodle soup, I wasn’t expecting to love it so much. Following many meals of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, the soup offered a light yet still very comforting change of pace. And of course, it made great use of the leftover turkey meat that we had in abundance.

I ate my bowls of turkey noodle with slices of avocado on top, which took the already standout dish to a whole new level. Why can’t all leftovers be this successful?

For turkey broth

• 1 turkey carcass, cut into 4 or 5 pieces
• 1 onion, chopped coarse
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped coarse
• 1 rib celery, chopped coarse
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• 3 quarts water

For turkey noodle soup

• 1 recipe turkey broth
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 rib celery, sliced thin
• Salt
• 8 ounces noodles
• 2 cups cooked turkey meat, shredded
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• Pepper

Make turkey broth

Bring all of the ingredients to a simmer [when the liquid is at a gentle simmer, you see a few small bubbles breaking the surface every few seconds] in a large stockpot and cook for 2 hours, skimming off any fat or foam that rises to the surface.

Strain the broth through a large mesh strainer into a large container, removing any fat that rises to the surface as it cools. This broth can be cooled, covered, and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Make turkey noodle soup

Bring the broth to a simmer in large stockpot. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the noodles (the original recipe calls for wide egg noodles, but I used whole wheat corkscrews) and turkey meat and continue to simmer until the noodles are just tender, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 8 to 10.

Recipe from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. [For Printable Recipe Click Here]