Phil Vickery's classic cream of chicken soup
As the autumn evenings start to draw in, Phil’s serving up one of his favourite cosy meals - his hearty cream of chicken soup. A simple, comforting and versatile one-pot meal that’s packed with plenty of seasonal root vegetables and delicious dumplings, it’s a winner, winner chicken dinner!
Cream of chicken soup with dumplings
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the soup:4 chicken thighs, bone in and skin off2 large onions, finely chopped1 medium leek, washed well and finely chopped200g white button mushrooms, washed well sliced700- 800 ml water, roughly300ml milk2 x crumbly chicken stock cubes Ground pepper, to tasteSalt, to taste35g salted butter, softened30g plain flour
For the dumplings:225g minced chicken thigh1 small onion, very finely chopped1 clove garlic, finely chopped1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil1 medium egg whiteSalt, to tasteGround pepper, to tasteCornflour, for dusting
To finish:Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzlingParsley, for sprinkling
Method
1. Place the onions, leek, mushrooms, water, milk, stock cubes and chicken thighs into a saucepan season with a little salt and pepper and bring to a simmer, then cook for 20 minutes.
2. Whilst the soup is simmering, place all the ingredients for the dumplings except the cornflour into a food processor and blitz until you have a nice thick puree.
3. Dust your hands with cornflour and then take small amounts of the chicken puree and mould into dumplings the size of a 50p piece, roughly and set aside.
4. Once simmered, remove the cooked chicken thighs from the soup. Remove the bone from the chicken and chop the chicken into very small pieces.
5. Place the soup back onto the stove and whisk in the softened butter and flour and bring to a simmer to thicken.
6. Once thickened, liquidise the soup until you have a fine puree, then place back into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
7. Simmer and drop in the dumplings one at a time (you may need to add a little more stock).
8. Once all of the dumplings are in the pan, simmer for about 10 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through.
9. Return the cooked chicken to the pan and season if needed.
10. Cream can be added as an optional extra.
11. Serve in deep bowls with crusty bread, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of parsley.