Slow Cooker White Chicken Lasagna Soup — The Soup That Crosses Generations

Noah is born. April nineteenth, 2018. David and Jennifer's third child, seven pounds nine ounces, and I was in the car before David finished the sentence. I drove to White Plains with challah and chicken soup — the birth foods, the foods you bring to a woman who has made a person and needs to be restored — and I walked into the hospital room and Jennifer was tired and radiant, the dual state that exists only in women who have recently given birth, and David was holding the baby, and the baby was perfect.

I held Noah. I held him and looked at his face — new, wrinkled, ancient in the way that all newborns are ancient, as if they are carrying memories of where they came from and will spend their first year forgetting them. I whispered the Shema. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." The prayer I whispered over David and Rebecca. The prayer Sylvia whispered over me and Miriam. The prayer that has been whispered over Jewish newborns since there were Jewish newborns, the first words entering the ears, the first declaration of belonging.

I brought Marvin to meet Noah the next day. Marvin held the baby and smiled — the full Marvin smile, the one that uses his whole face — and said, "He looks like Irving." The observation stopped me. Irving, my father, dead since 1985. Marvin remembering Irving's face well enough to see it in a newborn baby. The memory working, connecting faces across generations, linking the man who pressed coats in the Garment District to the baby in a White Plains hospital room. Noah does look like Irving. The quiet face. The still eyes. The look of a person who is watching the world and reserving comment. Marvin saw it. Marvin is right.

Three grandchildren now. Ethan (four), Sophie (two), Noah (newborn). Three links in the chain. Three reasons to cook, to write, to carry the recipes forward, to stand at the stove and make the chicken soup that crosses generations the way the Shema crosses generations: whispered, constant, the same words in the same language aimed at the same purpose — to nourish. To connect. To say: you are ours. You belong to us. Eat.

I wrote about Noah's birth on the blog — about the mathematics of grandchildren, about how each one multiplies the love without dividing it, about how the soup I brought to the hospital is the same soup Sylvia brought to my hospital room when David was born, and the recipe is the same, and the love is the same, and the only thing that has changed is the grandmother. Now it's me. Now I bring the soup. Now the chain passes through my hands.

The soup I brought to Jennifer’s hospital room was Sylvia’s classic chicken soup — the one with the whole bird and the dill and the quiet, golden broth that fixes everything. But at home, when there are three grandchildren and a life that moves faster than it used to, I’ve learned to let the slow cooker do some of the standing. This White Chicken Lasagna Soup is what happens when chicken soup meets real life: it’s rich, it’s warm, it feeds a crowd, and it simmers while you sit on the floor building block towers with a four-year-old. Sylvia would approve. Nourishment is nourishment.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Lasagna Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 6 hours | Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
• 1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 8 lasagna noodles, broken into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup whole milk
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened and cubed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

1. Sauté the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion until softened, about 4 minutes, then add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Transfer to the slow cooker.
2. Build the base. Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Add chicken broth, cannellini beans, oregano, basil, thyme, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir gently to combine.
3. Slow cook. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours, until chicken is cooked through and shreds easily.
4. Shred the chicken. Remove the chicken breasts and shred with two forks. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker.
5. Add the noodles. Stir in the broken lasagna noodles. Cover and cook on high for 20 minutes, until the noodles are tender.
6. Finish the soup. Stir in the spinach, milk, cream cheese, and Parmesan. Stir continuously until the cream cheese is fully melted and the soup is creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
7. Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with extra Parmesan and fresh parsley. Serve with crusty bread — or, if you’re lucky, challah.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 340 | Protein: 32g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 580mg