This is my rendition of pheasant noodle soup. Everyone who makes this probably does something a little different. If you are short of pheasants, use any white meat. Turkey, rabbit, grouse, partridge or quail all spring to mind. You could even make this with fish if you were so inclined, but if you do, don't cook the broth more than 1 hour. Everything else is pretty easy to find. For me, this is a winter warmer, something to eat for lunch on a cold day. For a dinner, you might need only some bread and a salad to go with it.
Make the broth first. Coat the pheasants with some oil and salt well. Put them in a roasting pan and roast in the oven at 400°F for about 1 hour. Remove the pheasants and put into a stock pot and just barely cover with water. Set the heat to medium-high. Pour some water into the roasting pan and let that sit for a few minutes to loosen things up. Scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the roasting pan with a wooden spoon and pour that into the stock pot. As soon as the stock begins to simmer, drop the heat to low and let this cook very gently for 2 hours.
While this is simmering, drop the pheasant breasts into the broth and let them cook gently for 20 minutes. Remove them, shred the meat and set aside.
Fish out the pheasants and pick off all the meat from the legs, thighs, wings and carcass. Set this aside and return the bones to the stock pot. Add 2 stalks of celery, 2 carrots, the smashed garlic clove, rosemary, bay leaves and the star anise if using. Separate the light from dark parts of the leeks. Chop the dark green parts and add to the stock, and slice the white and light green parts and set aside for the soup. If you're using onions, just add 1 chopped onion now. Let the stock cook another 90 minutes.
When you're ready to make the soup, you can do one of two things: You can simply set up a fine mesh strainer over the pot you are going to make the soup in, or you can properly strain your stock and use that. To properly strain the stock, put a piece of paper towel in the strainer and set that over a big bowl or other large container. Ladle the stock from the stockpot through the strainer set-up into the big bowl. This will give you a nicer, clearer broth.
To finish the soup, heat the butter in a Dutch oven or other soup pot set over medium heat. Saute the white parts of the leeks (or the onion), the final 2 celery stalks and carrots until soft and translucent, but not browned. This should take about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the vermouth and let this boil a minute or two, then add the bay leaf and about 4 to 8 cups of the stock you just made. Let this simmer very gently.
To cook the noodles, you can do one of two things: You can just drop them into your soup, which is fine but it will make the broth cloudy. Or, you can boil your noodles in some salty water and add them later. I boil mine separately because I like clear broth.
While the noodles are cooking, return all the picked-over pheasant meat (and the shredded breast meat) to the soup. Add salt and black pepper to taste. When the noodles are ready, add the parsley and serve.
Notes
Note that prep time assumes you are making broth. Once made, the broth will keep a week in the fridge. If you want to have leftover soup ready to go, undercook the noodles so they are al dente when you first eat the soup. They'll absorb more broth in the fridge and still be nice a few days later.