Magical chicken and Parmesan soup with pappardelle - OTK Shelf Love
There’s an undivided, universal power to chicken soup that translates across all cultures and borders. This broth is basically liquid magic, but our guess is the Parmesan rind might have something to do with it.
15 minutes
Prep
2 hours 25 minutes
Cook
4 people
Serving size
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (1.4kg)
1 head of garlic, skin on and halved widthways, plus 4 extra peeled cloves, crushed
1 onion, cut into 4 wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and roughly cut into 1 1⁄2cm cubes (220g)
3 sticks of celery, sliced at an angle into roughly 1cm-thick slices (200g)
3 bay leaves
11⁄2 tbsp finely chopped thyme leaves
1 Parmesan wedge, 60g finely grated and rind reserved
5 plum tomatoes, coarsely grated (p. 88) and skins discarded (320g)
2 tsp tomato paste
180g dried pappardelle nests
15g basil leaves, finely shredded
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (10g)
salt and black pepper
Method
1. Put the chicken, head of garlic, onion, 2 litres of water and 2 1⁄4 teaspoons of salt into a large saucepan, for which you have a lid, and bring to the boil. Lower to a simmer on a medium- low heat and cook, covered, for 80 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.
2. Remove the chicken and, when cool, shred the meat into large pieces, discarding the skin, bones and cartilage. Set aside.
3. Strain the stock through a sieve placed over a medium saucepan, discarding the solids. You will need 1.7 litres, so save any extra for another use.
4. Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium-high heat. Add the carrots and celery and cook for 4 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the crushed garlic, bay leaves, thyme and Parmesan rind and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the grated tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for another 3 minutes, or until the tomatoes cook down slightly. Pour in the 1.7 litres of stock, add 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of pepper, and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables have completely softened.
5. Transfer 400g of soup, about 50/50 liquid to solids (avoiding the bay leaves and rind), to a blender, blitzing until completely smooth. Stir the blitzed soup back into the saucepan and return to a medium-high heat. Add the pappardelle, the shredded chicken and a good grind of pepper and cook for 15 minutes, until the pasta is al dente. Discard the bay leaves and the Parmesan rind.
6. Divide the soup between four bowls and top with the basil and chilli, a good grind of pepper and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan.