Chicken soup is one of the easiest and best soups (in our humble opinion). We have recently learned that the whole chicken is not necessary for making a great soup. I’m talking about ‘chicken backs’. Our local organic chicken growers, Rainbow farms, sells the mostly cleaned raw carcasses and calls them chicken backs for the simple reason that there is not much left after precessing the breasts, wings, and thighs but the neck and back of the chicken. Fortunately, for us there is just the right amount of meat for the amount of stock the backs make. Here is our recipe for simple chicken back soup with homemade pasta:
And here is the playlist I made on Spotify to cook this recipe to: Playlist name is Spanks… ur welcome!
http://t.co/Fxmcz29QyW
You will need a rolling pin or pasta rolling machine for the pasta.
2 chicken backs
Celery plant (The more leaves the better)
Large Onion
1-2 lbs shitake mushrooms
1-2 lbs button aka. white mushrooms (regular mushroom)
Any other kind of wild mushrooms will do as well
Couple of sprigs of rosemary and/or sage and thyme (We will make a boquet garni with this)
Whatever raw veg you have in the composter drawer* (some refrigerators call this drawer the crisper or vegetable drawer)
salt
Port wine
2 rashers (strips) of bacon
1 1/2 cups semolina flour
1/4 – 1/2 cup white flour
2-3 eggs
Prep is simple:
Make the pasta first so it has time to rest before rolling.
Pasta:
Put 1 1/2 cups of semolina flour and 1/4 cup flour in a mixing bowl large enough to get both hands in. Mix around flours until well blended. (The extra white flour is to adjust the ratio of the dough to get a nice dry and firm consistency if needed.)
Make a hole in the middle of the flour and crack the eggs into it.
You may use your hands but I prefer to use a wooden spoon as this is a sticky mess until the egg is incorporated into the flour.
Begin to knead the dough by hand when it is not too sticky to handle.
The mixture should be sticky enough to grab all the flour in the bowl with out being sticky to the touch. If the dough is too sticky add a little white flour to the bowl and knead in. If the dough is to hard and dry you may add a touch of water or if there is still a lot of loose flour, you may add another egg to the mix. The ball should be smooth and not feel grainy when kneading when it is done. If it feels like you are working too hard with the ball of dough you can cover it with a clean damp towel for 5 minutes to let it rest and soften up a little. When the dough is smooth wrap it in a wet cloth or put it in plastic in the fridge to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes (this makes rolling WAY easier).
Soup:
Just cover the chickens with water in a large stockpot.
Add 2 rashers bacon to the pot.
Mince the onion and the entire amount of green tops from the celery plant and add to the pot.
Cut celery into large chunks and set aside.
Bring to a boil and skim the scudge foam off the top and feed to your dogs or cats.
Drop the water to a simmer and let cook for about twenty minutes or so.
Pull the chickens out and set aside in a bowl to cool.
Coarsely slice your mushrooms and drop in the simmering water.
Add your boquet garni of herbs. (I usually remove this after 10 or 15 minutes)
Slice up any veg you need to get rid of and set aside. (We will add the veg after the pasta is done cooking)
While the mushrooms are stewing it is time to roll the pasta.
Slice a medallion of pasta off your dough ball and sprinkle both sides with white flour and roll with your trusty rolling pin (or a wine bottle in a pinch) to about 1/16 to 1/8th inch thickness. *Thick noodles or best for soup.
If you have a pasta roller machine, now would be the time to use it instead of the torture, er… rolling pin. Rolled to #2…
Using a knife, pizza cutter, or rolling pastry cutter, make wide strips of pasta and then cut again to make squares then set aside with a little flour sprinkled on them to prevent sticking.
Continue until as much pasta as you would like for your amount of soup is ready.
Add salt to taste in the pot of water and mushrooms. There should be a light but pleasant amount of mushroom and chicken flavor. The salt will really bring out the stock.
Add the pasta to the soup and cook until al dente. usually 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of your noodles and how hard your dough was when you rolled it out. Harder equals better texture but longer cook times. Do not rely on timing to cook this pasta. 15 -20 minutes is a rough ball park only. You must try your pasta in several intervals as it cooks.
While this is happening clean all the meat off of the chicken backs and don’t neglect the neck meat. Put the cleaned carcasses in a freezer bag and save for later. (You can make a whole other pot of stock from these)
When the pasta is almost ready drop in your pre-cut celery and other raw veg you may have prepped earlier into the stock with the pasta.
When the veg are al dente drop the chicken you cleaned earlier in to the pot and remove from the heat.
Serve in bowls with a dollop of Extra Virgin Olive oil and a small dash of port wine. (You may substitute sherry or skip it all together)
