Today was a rainy, chilly day – a cozy socks and soup kind of day. Nothing is more comforting than a hot pot of chicken soup piping away on the burner. I stopped at the farm market and picked up potatoes, carrots, leeks and kale. Adding these vegetables to my soup brings home the flavors of the rain-soaked fields and turns them into a soul satisfying harvest soup.
I pour a glass of wine and turn up the volume on Sarah Brightman’s version of ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ and slink into ease as I prepare the ingredients. The heat of the stove releases the full flavor of the harvest and the warm simmering aroma blankets the entire house.
This is a perfect cold weather warm-you-up-from-the-inside-out soup. My children love it because they think it’s fun to dunk their bread into the broth sopping-up all the delicious bits of parmesan cheese. I love the nutritional and medicinal benefits of the vegetables and chicken broth as we approach full-on sniffles season.
This soup is very forgiving. You can omit the kale entirely, or substitute it with spinach, escarole or cabbage. Add a small pasta instead of potatoes (I’d recommend cooking the pasta separately though and keeping it aside drizzled in a little olive oil, spooning in only what is needed in each serving bowl), barley or rice. Serve with a good rustic bread that has been sliced thick and toasted over an open fire. We toast our bread on a brustolina. We bought ours at a street market in Italy, but recently I have seen vendors in America that will ship one directly to you (see link). There’s just something magnificent about bread and fire. The outside of the bread blackens and is deep with smokey flavor while the inside remains soft and warm. The aroma alone…. Fire-toasted with just a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkle of salt is really all that is needed, and…oh, well, I digress…
Back to the soup, be careful when removing the chicken from the pot as it will be very tender and will likely start to fall apart, you don’t want to have to fish out any bones from the soup or worse yet, accidentally leave them behind.
Top with freshly grated ribbons of parmesan cheese, turn up your favorite playlist, and pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine.
I’d love to hear from you!
Scroll down and leave me a comment below, I’d love to know if you plan on making this! If you give it a go, please share it with me on Instagram, I’d love to see! Make sure to tag me @chasingtheseasons so I don’t miss it!
Disclosure: As a way of supporting Chasing the Seasons, I may receive monetary compensation for my endorsement, recommendation, and/or link to any product(s). That support allows me to continue to share my recipes with you. I only recommend products that I love and/or personally use or are similar to the products I use – all at no additional cost to you. I sincerely appreciate all the love that has been given to this little blog of mine. Thank you.
Ingredients
- 1 3.5 lb whole chicken
- 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized rounds
- 1 leek, white parts only, sliced
- 1 onion, quartered and sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled, quartered and cut into 1/2-in [1.2-cm] pieces
- 1 ½ cups chopped kale
- herb bouquet (see below)
- Kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 1 cup Sauvignon Blanc
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Herb Bouquet
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 sage leaves
- tie herbs in kitchen twine or wrap in cheese cloth and tie
Instructions
- In a 8-quart (8 liter) stock pot, add the whole chicken, carrots, leeks, onion, garlic, potatoes, kale, the herb bouquet, about 2 tablespoons of salt, and a few good turns of fresh black pepper. Generously cover the contents with cold water, leaving only about 1.5-inches (3.8-cm) of room from the top of the pot. Add the wine. Add more water during the cooking process, only if needed, to keep the contents well covered.
- Bring the contents to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 2-3 hours, periodically skimming any fat, residue and foam that rises to the surface.
- When soup is done, remove the bouquet and discard. Carefully remove the chicken from the pot as the chicken will likely begin to fall apart, taking care to not leave behind any bones. Set the chicken aside to cool a bit, 10 minutes.
- Remove the skin and bones from the chicken and lightly shred the meat using two forks, keep aside.
- Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if necessary
- See notes below. If adding the chicken back to the pot, start by adding only half of the shredded chicken to the soup, give the soup a gentle stir. Use your judgment at this point, if the chicken was small and didn’t generate a lot of meat, you might be able to add all of the shredded chicken back to the pot. Otherwise, keep half aside for meals during the week. To serve, divide soup into individual serving bowls and garnish with desired amount of Parmesan cheese
Notes
© chasingtheseasons. All images & content are copyright and trademark protected. Please do not use my photography without prior written permission. If you would like to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.
