Try this fantastic soup to get your family through cold and wet weather.
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 brown onion
- 5 celery stalks
- 1 whole leek
- 4 carrots
- 2 spring onions
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 4 silverbeet leaves, shredded
- 1/2 cup snow peas, sliced
- 2/3 cup broad beans
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- Fresh chopped herbs
- Cold water
- 1 tsp salt
Method:
- In the bottom of a pressure cooker: 1 brown onion in 1/4s, 2 bay leaves, leaves and tops from 3 celery stalks, 1 whole leek (white part only), 2 whole garlic cloves, 2 large carrots in 1/4s.
Place a whole large chicken with skin and fat removed on top of the vegetables – removing the skin is relatively easy if you start around the legs and thighs and peel it off. It is a messy job but gets rid of most of the fat from the chicken and your broth.
Just cover with cold water and 1 teaspoon salt. Pressure cook on highest setting for 40s minutes. Extend the cooking time if you don’t have a pressure cooker. - Remove from heat, remove everything from the broth – reserve chicken and leek and discard the remaining vegetables. If there are tiny spots of fat on the top of the broth, skim off by lightly placing some paper towel on top.
- Return broth to medium heat and add the following finely diced vegetables: 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 2 spring onions,1 bunch asparagus and 4 shredded silverbeet leaves, 1/2 cup sliced snow peas and 2/3 cup of broad beans. Simmer with lid off until tender, not squishy – around 7 minutes.
Meanwhile slice reserved leek and remove chicken from carcass and rough chop; you will have enough chicken to put some aside for sandwiches or other dishes. - Add cooked chicken, leek and a handful of fresh chopped herbs to your soup just before serving, season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy the restorative goodness with bread and butter.
