Chicken, sweetcorn and noodle soup

Ingredients

• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 2 large leeks (white part only), trimmed and finely sliced
• Corn from 2 cobs of corn
• Vermicelli noodles (200g/7oz)
• A small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

For the stock

• Whole medium-sized chicken (1.3kg/3lb)
• 2 medium-sized onions, quartered
• 1 leek, cut into chunks
• 2 medium-sized carrots, thickly sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 black peppercorns
• 4 medium-sized celery sticks, roughly chopped
• Vegetable bouillon (2 tbsp) or a vegetable stock cube
• Small bunch of parsley stalks

Instructions

1. Put all the stock ingredients in a very large saucepan. Cover everything with about three litres of cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 1-1½ hours, until the chicken is cooked through. Skim off any froth every 20 minutes or so. Put the chicken on a plate to cool. Strain the stock through a sieve, skimming off as much fat as you can.
2. Rinse out the pan and put the stock back in. Then simmer until reduced a little - you need about two litres in total. Add the carrots and leeks, then simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, shred the meat from the chicken, discarding the skin and bones. Add to the pan with the sweetcorn. Add the vermicelli noodles, unless you want to freeze the soup, and simmer for about seven minutes more, until the corn and noodles are cooked. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with the parsley.

Benefits

• Suitable for people with problems chewing
• Suitable for people with a dry or sore mouth

Nutritional information

Energy 288kcal; Protein 25g; Total fat 9g (of which saturates 3g); Carbohydrate 28g; Fibre 2g.

Thanks to Good Food magazine for contributing this recipe.