*Chicken With Stars Soup* 1/2 mug full of Stelline Pasta (star shaped pasta, about 1/2 cup, or more as desired)Serves 4-6 This is a very simple and easy soup to make. I often use the carcass from a roast chicken to make this, saving some chicken from the roast to use as well. As I always cut up chickens myself to use in other recipes, I usually always have bags of chicken backs and necks in the freezer as well, which are very good when used in this soup! Its amazing what you can do with a few bones and some vegetables! 1 spent chicken carcass (if there is not a lot of meat left on the carcass you can add a few chicken wings or a leg) 1 bay leaf 1 sprig thyme 1 carrot, unpeeled and cut in half 1 stalk of celery Handful of celery leaves 1 onion, unpeeled, cut in half, root end removed Sea salt Cracked black pepper To finish: 1 carrot peeled and grated ¼ of a swede peeled and grated Put your chicken carcass in a pot and cover with boiling water. Add the bay leaf, thyme, carrot, celery, celery leaves, onion and salt and pepper. Bring back to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 ½ hours to 2 hours. Strain broth into a clean pot. Discard vegetables and pick off as much meat as you can from off of the bones. Cut into small chunks. Bring broth to a boil and reduce somewhat. Taste and adjust seasoning. (If it is not very strong you can add a TBS or two of Marigold vegetable stock powder, but it really shouldn‘t be necessary.) Add the grated vegetables and the Stelline pasta. Bring to the boil and then reduce to low and simmer for about 15 minutes until cooked. Add the diced chicken meat. Heat through and then ladle into hot bowls. Serve with some nice crusty bread or rolls. Note: I like to make star shaped croutons for a garnish sometimes. Just cut your desired bread into star shapes with a sharp cutter, Toss with some herbs and olive oil. (I like to use parsley, garlic, salt, pepper) Then toast in a hot oven for 5 to 8 minutes until golden brown and crisp. |