Soups & stews
Substantial chicken soup
This is a really comforting chicken soup and is quite quick to make. The better your stock is, the better your soup will be – this isn't the place for a stock cube. This tastes even better the next day (but refrigerate overnight). A bit of tarragon is a lovely addition but the taste of tarragon is very distinctive (sweet aniseed) and best left out if you're unsure if you like it.
Ingredients
- 1 litre good chicken stock
- 150ml white wine
- 1 bay leaf
- few sprigs thyme
- 3 carrots, cut in batons
- 2 sticks celery, finely sliced
- 3 courgettes, in 1 inch slices, halved first if large
- 2 large or 4 small potatoes, in 1 inch chunks
- 400-500g left-over roast chicken, torn into pieces, or 4 chicken legs, poached in the stock, removed from bone and set aside
- 3 leeks, finely sliced
- 2 handfuls flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- drizzle of olive oil
- juice of ½-1 lemon (optional)
- 1 handful tarragon, chopped (optional)
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Bring stock to simmer with the wine. Add bay leaf, thyme and all vegetables except leeks.
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Step 2
Simmer until everything is tender but not too soft (about 10-15 minutes).
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Step 3
Add shredded chicken and finely sliced leeks and return to boil.
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Step 4
Make sure everything is warmed through and leeks have softened, then season to taste and add parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and tarragon, if using.
