The Weekend Soup! Chicken & vegetable brodo

This recipe comes from Karen Martini's Cooking at Home (2008). This is her second cookbook, written after the birth of her first child. As I find the recipes a little less complicated in Cooking at Home than those in Where the Heart Is (2006), I tend to use it more. However, I think they are both excellent cookbooks. I particularly like her style of combining Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours and techniques.

It is a hearty soup, perhaps a bit to hearty for this time of year, but as the nights are still cool I think it can be enjoyed during the spring. It is satisfying without weighing you down and is full of veggie goodness.

Ingredients:

1 kg of chicken wings (I used wingettes, which I found much easier as the tip had been removed)

4 tbls of olive oil

2 litres of chicken stock

1 litre of water

2 chopped onions

4 cloves of chopped garlic

4 sprigs of oregano

4 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

1 bulb of fennel, trimmed and sliced.

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 bunch of celery, chopped

1/2 cup of arborio rice

50g of spaghetti, broken into 6 cm pieces

2 chopped zucchini

1/2 cup of frozen peas

1/2 cup of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

crusty bread and parmesan to serve (optional, of course).

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Toss chicken wings in 1tbls of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Once cooked, place wings in a large stock pot, cover with stock and water and boil over a medium heat. Then simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Strain, reserving the stock and set aside. Leave to cool slightly then remove the meat and about half the skin (I just removed the meat).

Heat 2tbls of olive oil in the stockpot over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, oregano. thyme and bay leaf for 2-3 minutes, then add the fennel, carrots and celery and cook for a further 10 minutes.


Add chicken meat, reserved stock, rice and spaghetti and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5-8 minutes. Stir in zucchini, peas and parsley and simmer for a further five minutes until the rice and pasta are cooked. Add the remaining olive oil and serve with some crusty bread and parmesan cheese.

Serves 10.

Enjoy!