Hearty Chicken Pasta & Cabbage Soup

Recipe Ingredients:

For the Stock:

1.5 kg whole chicken pieces

1/2 brown onion, chop into large chunks

2 carrots, chop into 3 cm pieces

2 baby potatoes, halve

water as required

2 bay leaves

2 inch ginger, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp salt

For the Soup:

1/2 cabbage, thinely sliced

4 carrots, chop into 3mm thick discs

2 celery stalks, chop into 3mm thick slices

200 gm spiral pasta

1/4 cup coriander leaves

1/2 tbsp pepper powder

salt (according to taste)

How to prepare:

Heat oil in a large deep saucepan over a medium heat and sweat the onions, carrots, potatoes, minced ginger & garlic, bay leaves and salt for 5 minutes stirring often. Add the whole chicken to the pan and cover with about 4 liters of water. Bring the liquid to a low simmer and cook gently for 25 minutes or untill the chicken is just cooked through. Skim and discard any fat that raises to on the top of the liquid.

Remove the cooked chicken from the stock to a baking tray and let it cool slightly at room temperature. Strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve and discard the solids. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, pull apart into bite-size pieces and reserve, discarding the bones.

For the soup, return the same saucepan to a low-medium heat and add oil. Add the carrots and celery and sweat for 3 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a simmer, then pour in the pasta and cook for 5 minutes. Return the chicken to the saucepan and add the cabbage, salt and pepper powder. Continue cooking untill the pasta is al dente and the cabbage has wilted for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Ladle the soup into  bowls and serve.