Chicken Soup with Semolina Dumplings
This is something you will find in every Croatian house regularly, good old Chicken Soup. It is the start to most meals. My mother always made it with store bought vermicelli, here I have made the recipe with semolina dumplings which my mother in law taught me how to make. They are super easy to make and great to eat, but what I love is if you have run out of vermicelli, you can always whip up some dumplings.
The chicken you can use is any part of the chicken really. I like to use chicken bones, but you could just as easily use 2 marylands and then shred the meat into the soup. My husband and son also love chicken feet in the soup, so I usually put some in, but that is completely optional. With the bones, I either buy the carcasses or as my parents taught me, when I cook something that needs chicken thigh fillets, they would never buy the fillet as it was so much more expensive than buying the whole thigh. But my dad would remove the skin from the thigh, then carefully remove the bones. The chicken meat was used for dinner and the bones used to make the soup, no waste and a lot cheaper.
The soup usually feeds us for 2 days. So I only add the dumplings to half of the soup on the day I cook it, the leftover soup I refrigerate and use the following day, but it keeps for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. With the semolina dumplings I have given the quantities to serve 4 people. You can double the recipe when all soup needed, or when soup is all we are having.
The chicken you can use is any part of the chicken really. I like to use chicken bones, but you could just as easily use 2 marylands and then shred the meat into the soup. My husband and son also love chicken feet in the soup, so I usually put some in, but that is completely optional. With the bones, I either buy the carcasses or as my parents taught me, when I cook something that needs chicken thigh fillets, they would never buy the fillet as it was so much more expensive than buying the whole thigh. But my dad would remove the skin from the thigh, then carefully remove the bones. The chicken meat was used for dinner and the bones used to make the soup, no waste and a lot cheaper.
The soup usually feeds us for 2 days. So I only add the dumplings to half of the soup on the day I cook it, the leftover soup I refrigerate and use the following day, but it keeps for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. With the semolina dumplings I have given the quantities to serve 4 people. You can double the recipe when all soup needed, or when soup is all we are having.
Recipe
Serves 8
4 x chicken bones (carcasses)
4 x chicken feet (optional)
1 stick celery
2 large carrots, peeled
1 onion, skin removed
1 clove garlic, skin removed
1/2 red capsicum, seeded
1 tomato
6 parsley stalks
1/2 tablespoon vegeta
Salt
10 black peppercorns
Freshly chopped parsley, to serve
Semolina Dumpling: (serves 4)
20g vegetable oil
50g fine semolina
1 egg
4 x chicken bones (carcasses)
4 x chicken feet (optional)
1 stick celery
2 large carrots, peeled
1 onion, skin removed
1 clove garlic, skin removed
1/2 red capsicum, seeded
1 tomato
6 parsley stalks
1/2 tablespoon vegeta
Salt
10 black peppercorns
Freshly chopped parsley, to serve
Semolina Dumpling: (serves 4)
20g vegetable oil
50g fine semolina
1 egg
In a large stock pot add the chicken, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, capsicum, tomato and parsley stalks. Top up the pot with cold water. Bring to the boil. When it has nearly come to the boil, you will need to skim the surface and remove the foam from the top of the soup.
Once boiling, add the vegeta, season with a little salt and add the peppercorns. Cover the soup, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1.5-2 hours
When the soup is cooked, strain the soup through a fine mesh sieve into a smaller pot. We reserve the carrots and add it to the finished soup, discard the other ingredients. However we usually eat the meat off the bones, just season with some salt, or add it to the soup.
Semolina Dumplings: In a small mixing bowl add the oil, semolina and the egg. With a fork whisk it together until combined. leave to sit for 30 minutes.
If you don't need all of the soup, ladle into a smaller pot the amount of soup you will need. Bring it back to the boil, place the prongs of a fork into the boiling water. When hot, use the fork to cut small strips of the semolina and add them to the soup. Bring it to the boil again, simmer for 5 minutes or until cooked through.
Sprinkle the soup with the chopped parsley, check for seasoning. Serve immediately.
Once boiling, add the vegeta, season with a little salt and add the peppercorns. Cover the soup, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1.5-2 hours
When the soup is cooked, strain the soup through a fine mesh sieve into a smaller pot. We reserve the carrots and add it to the finished soup, discard the other ingredients. However we usually eat the meat off the bones, just season with some salt, or add it to the soup.
Semolina Dumplings: In a small mixing bowl add the oil, semolina and the egg. With a fork whisk it together until combined. leave to sit for 30 minutes.
If you don't need all of the soup, ladle into a smaller pot the amount of soup you will need. Bring it back to the boil, place the prongs of a fork into the boiling water. When hot, use the fork to cut small strips of the semolina and add them to the soup. Bring it to the boil again, simmer for 5 minutes or until cooked through.
Sprinkle the soup with the chopped parsley, check for seasoning. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
