Foryoueats: Creamy chicken noodle soup with mini croutons

Ingredients

• 400g/10oz chicken breast (2 small), cut in half horizontally to form 2 thin steaks (sub boneless thighs)
• 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• 1/4 tbsp black pepper
• Soup:
• 4 strips streaky bacon (enough to cover base of pot)
• 30g/ 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 onion , finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
• 2 sprigs thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme (optional)
• 2 celery stalks , chopped (~1/2 x 1.2 cm / 1/5 x 1/2″ pieces)
• 1 carrot , chopped (1/2 x 1 cm / 1/5 x 1/2″ pieces)
• 3/4 cup corn kernels (frozen thawed or canned drained)
• 4 tbsp flour
• 3 cups milk , full fat best but low fat ok (non-dairy ok too)
• 2 cups low sodium chicken stock/broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp cooking salt
• 1 1/3 cups (100g) broken angel hair pasta OR angel hair pasta / spaghetti broken into 6 pieces, or other small, spoon-able pasta
• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped parsley , optional
• Mini croutons:
• 1 cup bread (crustless) cut into 7mm / 1/4″ cubes – sourdough type is crunchier, regular sandwich bread is fine too
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Pinch cooking salt / kosher salt