I came across this recipe in our Family Table Cookbook about a year ago, and it has been beckoning me ever since. Now that I've made it, I only wish I would have tried it back then. This is one of the most comforting, homey and familiar soups I've ever made at home-and one of the easiest; I need more of it in my life.

Our recipe starts by simmering aromatics with bone-in skin-on chicken breasts in chicken stock to impart maximum flavor into the base broth and the chicken breasts, which then get cooled and shredded. All the usual goodies you'd expect to find under the crust of a chicken pot pie-mushrooms, potatoes, onions, carrots and celery-are sautéed before simmering in the enriched broth. Rather than adding flour to the vegetable sautée directly, our recipe makes use of a beurre manié (a paste of butter and flour) which is an old-school French technique for easily thickening that avoids lumps and adds a final note of richness to this luscious soup. This recipe is a star on its own, but we advise gilding the lily by serving it alongside a quick batch of our flaky Rosemary Buttermilk Biscuits.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup
From our Nordstrom Family Table Cookbook
(Serves 6 to 8)

Ingredients
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 skin-on, bone-in chicken breast halves (about 10 ounces each)
2 yellow onions, 1 thinly sliced and 1 chopped
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
6 white mushrooms, quartered
2 unpeeled red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup thawed frozen peas
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine broth and 1 cup water in a large saucepan. Add the chicken breast halves, sliced onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a simmer over high heat, skimming off the foam that rises to the surface. Add the 2 teaspoons parsley, thyme and peppercorns and partially cover the pot. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the chicken shows no sign of pink when pierced at the thickest part with the tip of a sharp knife, about 40 minutes. Strain into a heatproof bowl, reserving the broth. Transfer the chicken to a carving board and set aside to cool.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Put the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a heatproof medium bowl and let stand at room temperature to soften. Add the chopped onion, carrots, celery, and mushrooms to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes and stir well. Add 4 cups of the reserved broth to the pot and bring to a simmer. (Save the remaining broth for another use.) Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the soup simmers, remove skin and bones from chicken and discard. With two forks, shred meat into bite-sized pieces.

Add the flour to the softened butter in a bowl and mash with a rubber spatula to make a smooth pasted. Whisk in about 2 cups of the cooking liquid to make a thin paste. Whisk this mixture into the pot and add the cream. Return to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the soup is velvety and lightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and peas and cook until heated through, about 10 minutes more. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

Ladle into soup bowls, sprinkle with parsley, and serve hot.

-Jeff Powell