Hearty chicken and vegetable soup

Photography by Mark O'Meara

Warm up your Friday night with this hearty soup - the winner of this week's soup recipe food fight.

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 leek, halved, washed, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 large carrot, peeled, diced
• 2 sticks celery, diced
• 2 small zucchini, diced
• 1 swede or turnip, peeled, diced
• 1 1/4 cups dry soup mix, rinsed (see note)
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1kg skinless chicken lovely legs

Method

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until soft but not coloured. Add carrot, celery, zucchini and swede. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in soup mix, stock, chicken and 1 cup cold water. Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil.
2. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour or until soup mix and vegetables are tender.
3. Remove chicken legs from soup. Allow to cool slightly. Remove meat from bones. Roughly chop chicken meat and add to soup. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into warmed bowls. Serve.

Notes

• Packet dry soup mix is a combination of split peas and lentils. You can find it near the chickpeas in the supermarket.
• Take a trip around the globe with our range of international recipe collections. Start with our French recipes, Thai recipes, Turkish recipes and Spanish recipes.

Source: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/705/hearty+chicken+and+vegetable+soup

pb notes:
On request, omitted zucchini and replaced the swede/turnip with a large potato. Tasty yummy... just have to remember to stir more next time as soup at the bottom was a little burnt. Seems to have a bit of an after taste?