2 chicken breasts

8 cups water

4 heaping tablespoons chicken base

1 yellow onion finely chopped

4 celery ribs diced

3 carrots diced

1 red bell pepper diced

2 medium russet potatoes peeled and diced

14.5 ounces diced tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley

5 garlic cloves chopped, I use my garlic press

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 pound ditalini pasta cooked and set aside

2 cups shredded asiago or parmesan cheese

In slow cooker add chicken breasts, water, chicken base, onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, diced tomatoes with their juices, garlic, parsley, 2 teaspoons salt and pepper.

Cook on high for 6 hours, remove chicken breasts and shred, place back in soup and bake another 2 hours.

At the end of 8 hours, use a potato masher, mash the soup around a few times, letting some of the potatoes get a little smashed. I don’t try too hard on this, I just mash 2-3 times and call it good. Add noodles to the slow cooker and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Serve with 1/4 cup of sharp cheese on top, we like Asiago and parmesan.

**We actually like to serve the serve the soup with the noodles on the side, letting each person add the amount of noodles they want.*

*adapted from dash of sanity