Friday, March 9, 2012

Chicken & Broken Pasta Soup


Chicken & Broken Pasta Soup

For me, nothing says "Get Well Soon" like a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  A close second would be dry Premium crackers and flat lemonade, which was my Mum's tummy bug remedy (she was also very adept at pouring Heinz Big Red out of a can and heating it on the stove, which I thought was pretty magical too).

As we approach soup weather (if I keep saying it, it might come true - I'll just ignore the fact that the sun in shining, there's a gorgeous blue sky and it's 27 degrees outside),  I'm converting a lot of our favourite soup recipes.  I find it's a spectacularly easy way to include masses of vegetable goodness in a meal and it's one of the simplest things to cook.  I also struggle to sit down and eat lunch, so I find that soup is souper easy (sorry, couldn't help myself) to just re-heat, throw into my favourite keepie cup and drink on the run.



Chicken & Broken Pasta Soup

(adapted from Karen Martini's Where The Heart Is)

Ingredients:-

Meatballs:-

250g chicken breast - cubed (see preparation notes)
80g fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 sprigs thyme
8 springs flat leaf parsley
1 egg
1/2 tsp vegetable stock concentrate

Soup:-

1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 stick celery
30g olive oil
1500g water
3 tsp chicken stock concentrate
1 tsp vegetable stock concentrate
1/4 savoy cabbage - shredded
150g broken spaghetti - (I snap mine into thirds)
Lemon - to serve

Preparation:-

1.  If using frozen cubed chicken breasts, defrost for approximately 20-30 minutes before using.  If using fresh chicken, cut into cubes and place into the freezer to harden for approximately 20 minutes prior to using.

2.  Pop bread into machine and process for 10 seconds on speed 6.

Method:-

Meatballs:-

1.  Place chicken into the TM bowl.  Mince the chicken by locking the lid and press the turbo button, 3-4 times, quickly each time.  (Generally, when the machine stops shuddering when you press the Turbo button, the chicken is minced.  I just check the texture after a couple of times and judge from there.)

2.  To the chicken, add breadcrumbs, nutmeg, thyme, parsley, egg and vegetable stock.  Mix for 15 seconds on speed 6.

Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place into the varoma dish and tray.  Set aside until you start cooking the soup.

Soup:-

1.  Place onion, garlic and celery into TM bowl.  Chop for 2 seconds on speed 7.

2.  Add olive oil and saute for 5 minutes, at 100°, on speed 1 (with the MC off).

3.  Add water, spaghetti, cabbage and stock concentrates.  Place Varoma on top and cook for for 20 minutes, on reverse, at Varoma temp, on speed 2 (with the MC off).

4.  Pour soup into thermoserver, stir through meatballs and leave for 5 minutes.

To serve:-

Ladle into bowls, squeeze a bit of lemon over the top and serve with fresh crusty bread.

Tips:-

If you have leftovers, you will find that by the following night the soup has thickened considerably.  I add a little more boiling water as I reheat it and just check the seasoning. 

Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. I love Karen martini where the heart is cookbook and I love this recipe so thanks for converting

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're welcome. It's one of my favourite recipe books too - has some beautiful dishes in it.

    ReplyDelete
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