Chicken Soup - From BBC Good Food

Chicken soup

Pure soul food, this warming, easy chicken soup makes the most of leftover roast chicken.

Ingredients

• 55g/2oz butter
• 2 onions, peeled and sliced
• 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
• 25g/2oz plain flour
• 1.2 litres/2 pints chicken stock
• 450g/1lb cooked chicken, skinned and shredded
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and gently fry the onions, celery and carrots until they start to soften.
2. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring as you do so. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then reduce the heat until the mixture is simmering and simmer for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
3. Add the cooked chicken and cook until heated through. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in the parsley and serve.

superb squash soup with the best parmesan croutons

© David Loftus

superb squash soup with the best parmesan croutons

servings
8

method

This fantastic soup is best made with varieties of squash that have dense, orange flesh, such as butternut or onion squash. It’s important to use good chicken stock and season the soup well to bring out the nutty, sweet flavour of the squash. Once you’ve mastered this recipe, you can take the soup in different ways by adding pearl barley, dried pasta, or some chopped smoked bacon. Even the smallest amount of dried porcini.

PS I made this in my pressure cooker the other day, with really great results – it’s so quick!

Put a very large saucepan on a medium heat and pour in a couple of lugs of olive oil. Add the sage leaves and fry for around 30 seconds or until dark green and crisp. Quickly remove them with a slotted spoon to a bowl lined with kitchen paper – you’ll use these for sprinkling over at the end. In the pan you’ll be left with a beautifully flavoured oil, so put it back on the heat and throw in your onion, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary leaves, chilli and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook gently for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are sweet and soft. Add the squash and the stock to the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for around half an hour.

While the soup is cooking, make your croutons. Drizzle a little olive oil over the ciabatta slices, pat it in and press some grated Parmesan on to each side. Place in a non-stick pan without any oil and fry until golden on both sides.

When the squash is soft and cooked through, whiz the soup with a hand blender or pour it into a liquidizer and pulse until you have a smooth purée (but you can leave it slightly chunky if you like). Most importantly, remember to taste and season it until it’s perfect. Divide the soup between your bowls, placing 2 croutons on top of each. Sprinkle with a few of your crispy sage leaves and drizzle with a swirl of good-quality extra virgin olive oil.


• from Jamie at Home

ingredients

• olive oil
• 16 fresh sage leaves
2 red onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• ½–1 fresh red chilli, to taste, deseeded and finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2kg butternut squash, onion squash, or musque de Provence, halved, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 2 litres good-quality chicken or vegetable stock
• extra virgin olive oil

for the croutons
• extra virgin olive oil
16 slices of ciabatta bread
• a block of Parmesan cheese, for grating

Soul-soothing chicken soup

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 1.8kg/4lb free-range chicken
• 1 lemon
• Knob of butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, peeled, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 2 litres/3½ pints vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 3-4 bay leaves
• Small bunch flat-leaf parsley
• Large splash white wine
• To finish the soup and serve
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 celery sticks, trimmed, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled, finely chopped
• 1 leek, sliced
• 2 large handfuls freshly shelled peas
• Small bunch fresh tarragon, finely chopped
• Small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• Handful fresh parmesan, finely grated
• Small sourdough loaf, torn into pieces

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. For the chicken, stuff the cavity with the whole lemon and place in a roasting tin. Rub the skin with the butter and olive oil. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and roast for 1½-2 hours, or until the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the thigh. Remove from the oven and set aside in the tin.
3. For the soup, heat the oil in a large saucepan, big enough to fit the whole chicken and liquid in. Gently fry the red onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes over a medium heat.
4. Add the leeks and continue to cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
5. Remove the lemon from the chicken cavity, and place the whole cooked chicken into the pan, reserving the roasting tin and juices for later.
6. Pour in the stock, making sure that the chicken is almost completely covered.
7. Add the carrots and celery to the pan, along with the bay leaves, parsley and white wine.
8. Cook the soup for 4 hours, checking that the liquid does not evaporate too much, adding a little water if necessary.
9. When the soup is cooked, tip the sourdough bread chunks into the roasting pan, turning to coat in the juices, and place the tin back in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until golden-brown, whilst you finish off the soup.
10. To finish the soup, heat the oil in another large pan, and gently fry the remaining celery, carrot and leek for 6-8 minutes to soften.
11. Remove the chicken from the soup pan and set aside. Strain the soup through a sieve into the pan with the softened vegetables.
12. Add the fresh peas and cook for one minute.
13. Shred the meat from the chicken.
14. To serve, ladle the soup into 4-6 bowls and top with the shredded chicken, tarragon, parsley and parmesan, with the roasted sourdough bread on the side.
    Technique: Learning to chop: the 'chiffonade' or shredding technique
    Watch technique1:36 mins

Required techniques

• Learning to chop: the 'chiffonade' or shredding technique
• Learning to chop: finely chopping celery
• Learning to chop: finely chopping celery
• Learning to chop: finely chopping celery
• Learning to chop: finely chopping celery
• Learning to chop: finely chopping celery

By Sophie Dahl

From The Delicious Miss Dahl

Less than 30 minspreparation time

No cooking requiredcooking time

Serves 4-6

Chicken soup and dumplings

Ingredients

For the chicken soup

• 1 x 1.5kg/3lb 5oz chicken
• 1 onion, peeled, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped
• 6-8 fresh parsley stalks
• 1 bay leaf
• 12 white peppercorns

For the dumplings

• 4 free-range eggs
• 150ml/5½fl oz vegetable oil
• 300ml/10½fl oz hot chicken stock, plus 1 litre/15¼fl oz to cook the dumplings
• 200g/7oz matzo meal
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. For the chicken soup, place all the soup ingredients into a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.
2. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool slightly. Remove the meat from the chicken and slice into chunks.
3. Strain the liquid through a muslin cloth into a clean saucepan. Let the liquid drip through rather than trying to push it through to create a clear broth.
4. Meanwhile, for the dumplings, beat the eggs, oil, half of the stock and matzo meal in a bowl to form a thick paste. Whisk in the remaining stock and dill and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside for one hour.
5. Using oiled hands, roll the dumpling mixture into small balls, approximately 2.5cm/1in in diameter. Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock until simmering and cook the dumplings for 30 minutes.
6. To serve, reheat the chicken broth, if necessary, and place some cooked chicken into the bottom of each of 6 serving bowls, pour the chicken broth on top and add a few dumplings.

Required techniques

• Learning to chop: slicing an onion

By Simon Rimmer

From Something for the Weekend

Less than 30 minspreparation time

1 to 2 hourscooking time

Serves 6

Watercress soup

 

Veg

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 150ml/¼ pint hot chicken stock (vegetarians can substitute vegetable stock)
• 1 bunch watercress
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• double cream, to serve

Preparation method

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and gently fry the garlic for one minute.
2. Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Add the watercress and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and allow to cool slightly.
3. Pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth. If necessary, return the soup to the saucepan and reheat gently.
4. To serve, pour the soup into a bowl and drizzle over the cream.