Chef notes
Who doesn't love chicken soup?! This one's a classic from my childhood. When it's cold outside, this is the dish I go to. It feeds an army and always reminds me of home.
Technique tips: After you've added your liquid, bring it to a boil and immediately turn it down to a simmer. Don't let it boil for too long. You don't want your vegetables to turn into mush and you don't want to overcook your proteins; it will make them stringy and chewy. Cooking soup and stew uncovered allows water to evaporate, so if your goal is to reduce a sauce or thicken a soup, skip the lid. The longer you cook your dish, the more water that will evaporate, and the thicker the liquid becomes, the more the flavors become concentrated!
The soup lasts 3 days in the fridge. You can always freeze it for meal-prep, and it will last a bit longer.
Swap option: For vegetarians and vegans, you can always swap out chicken for butter beans or simply just remove it; the soup is still amazing with all the other flavors.
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in, skin-on dark meat chicken pieces, such as legs and thighs
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 scallions, chopped, plus more to garnish
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1/2 pound (about 2 cups) chopped pumpkin or butternut squash
- 1/2 pound (about 2 cups) chopped yellow yams
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3-4 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon Jamaican-style curry powder
- 12 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ cups flour, plus more for shaping dough
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup cold water
Preparation
For the chicken soup:
1.In a large soup pot, combine chicken pieces, carrots, celery, scallion, onion, garlic, pumpkin or squash, yams, thyme, bay leaves and curry powder, and cover with chicken stock. Bring to a rolling bowl until vegetables begin to soften, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the scotch bonnet pepper.
2.Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until the chicken is tender, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.
3.Remove chicken and scotch bonnet from the pot. Discard scotch bonnet. Let the chicken cool slightly.
For the spinners:
1.Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Using your hands, mix in the water to form a dough.
2.Lightly flour hands and place about two tablespoon of dough in your hands and roll into a log, shaping a point at both ends. Repeat to make about 12-16 dumplings.
3.Drop dumplings into soup and cook until dough is no longer raw, about 15 minutes.
To assemble:
When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and using two forks, separate chicken meat from its bones and stir the chicken meat back into the soup. Turn off heat and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve soup in bowls with a variety of vegetables and spinners and garnish with scallion.
