Chicken and parmesan soup with pasta
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Try this chicken soup elevated with the rich tastes of parmesan, garlic and Mediterranean herbs.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (around 1.4kg)
- 1 whole head garlic, halved, plus 4 cloves, peeled and crushed
- 1 onion, cut into 4 wedges
- Salt and black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into roughly 15mm cubes (220g net weight)
- 3 sticks celery, cut at an angle into roughly 1cm-thick slices (200g net weight)
- 3 bay leaves
- 1½ tbsp thyme leaves, finely chopped
- 60g parmesan, finely grated, plus 1 small piece of rind
- 5 plum tomatoes, coarsely grated and skins discarded (320g)
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- 180g dried broad flat pasta such as pappardelle or tagiatelle
- 15g basil leaves, finely shredded
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Method
Put the chicken, garlic head halves, onion, two litres of water and two and a quarter teaspoons of salt in a large saucepan for which you have a lid. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for 80 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a board, leave to cool slightly, then pull off the meat in large shreds; discard the skin, bones and cartilage. Strain the stock into a medium saucepan (discard the solids): you need 1.7 litres, so save any excess for another use. Keep warm on a low heat while you get on with everything else.
Put the oil in a large saucepan on a medium-high heat, then sauté the carrot and celery for four minutes, until they start to soften. Add the crushed garlic, bay, thyme and parmesan rind, cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste, and cook for three minutes, until the tomatoes cook down slightly. Pour in 1.7 litres of hot stock, half a teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of pepper, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened.
Ladle out 400g of the soup, about 50/50 liquid to solids (avoid the bay and rind), transfer to a blender and blitz smooth. Stir back into the soup pan and turn up the heat to medium-high. Add the pasta, chicken flesh and a good grind of pepper, and cook for 15 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Discard the bay leaves and parmesan rind.
Divide the soup between four bowls, top with the basil, chilli, a good grind of pepper and a sprinkling of grated parmesan, and serve with extra parmesan alongside.
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