Chicken soup

This chicken soup is beautiful in it’s simplicity. It calls for minimal ingredients - a humble whole chicken, some carrot, celery, onion and garlic. We make the stock while making the soup, those veggies are then blended to the prettiest yellow color that radiates a golden chicken soup color.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

2 tbsp olive oil

2 carrots, quartered

1 onion, quartered

2 stalks celery, cut in half

3-5 cloves garlic, big ones too, crushed

1 cup star pasta, or any small shape

a few sprigs of fresh herbs

• any combination of bay leaves, oregano, thyme, parsley

fresh parsley to garnish

salt and cracked black pepper

Method:

Prep chicken: pat chicken dry on both sides with a paper towel and season with salt generously on both sides. Heat a large dutch oven to medium-high heat and add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken and sear on both sides until its golden brown. Transfer to a plate.

Sear veggies: add celery, onion, garlic and carrot to the dutch oven and sear until golden brown all over. Season with salt. Add the chicken back in, nestled on top of the veggies. Pour 2 litres of water in and place the lid on the dutch oven for 20 mins.

Blend veggies: after 20 mins, transfer the chicken onto a plate for a moment. Transfer the veggies into a blender, straining off the broth to keep in the pot. Place the chicken back in, add fresh herbs like bay leaves and oregano, top up with more water so the chicken is completely submersed and place the lid on. Blend the veggies on high speed (making sure to allow some hot air to escape the blender by covering it with a tea towel) until completely blended. Set aside for now while the chicken cooks through.

Cook the chicken: The chicken should simmer in the pot with the lid on, over medium-low heat, for about an hour. Check on it half way through to make sure it’s not at a rapid boil and there’s still plenty of water in the pot.

After 1 hour, remove the chicken into a large bowl to shred the meat off. Let cool until it’s warm enough to handle.

Add pasta: Pour the pasta into the pot. Stir as it cooks to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.

Meanwhile, shred the chicken and discard the bones.

Add the veggies and chicken: once the pasta is cooked through, pour in the blended veggies into the soup along with the shredded chicken. Stir to mix through and turn off the heat. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.

Serve with fresh parsley, extra salt and pepper. Enjoy!