ROAST CHICKEN & VEGETABLE SOUP

The vegetables caramelise as they roast, adding extra depth and sweetness to this comforting chicken soup. The broth steps can be missed if you already have a great stock on hand, but if not, this will do the trick. Play with the amount of lemon, sugar and salt you use to balance it to your tastebuds.

This soup takes 3-4 hours to make.

Serves 4-5

INGREDIENTS

Soup
1.5kg chicken
3 carrots, peeled and quartered
2 celery stalks, cut into thirds
1 brown onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1 garlic bulb, cut in half 
4 thyme sprigs 
10 sage leaves 
20g butter, softened 
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt
Cracked pepper
1 cup orecchiette 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 

Broth
1.5L chicken/vegetable stock or water
1 brown onion, halved
2 carrots, quartered
2 celery stalks
3 bay leaves 
Bouquet garni (bundle of fresh herbs), thyme, sage, parsley and oregano
8 peppercorns
2 teaspoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
Sea salt
Cracked pepper

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 190ºC regular bake. 

Put the chicken into a large roasting dish and place the vegetables and garlic around the chicken. Top with the sage and thyme leaves then massage the butter into the chicken skin. Drizzle oil over the vegetables and season with sea salt and cracked pepper. 

Roast the chicken and vegetables for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tender and cooked through. 

While the chicken is roasting, pour the stock into a large pot and add the vegetables, bay leaves, bouquet garni and peppercorns. Loosely cover with a lid and bring to a gentle simmer, cook for 1-1.5 hours. 

Once the chicken is cooked through, cover with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Pull the meat off the bones and place in a dish along with the roast vegetables, cover and set aside. Discard any onion that’s charred, it will make your soup bitter. 

Add the chicken carcass and any unwanted bits to the broth and continue to gently simmer for 1.5 hours. If the liquid starts to reduce too much, add a little extra water. 

Use a colander to drain the chicken broth into a large bowl. Discard the chicken carcass, vegetables and other bits and return the broth to the pot.

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, cook pasta using packet instructions or until tender, drain and set aside. 

Shred the chicken and chop up the roasted vegetables. Add to the broth along with the roast garlic (removed from skins), orecchiette, caster sugar and lemon juice. Season with sea salt and cracked pepper. 

Serve topped with chopped parsley and toast.