Nigel Slater’s kitchen diary: a nourishing chicken soup

While the roast chicken rests and its flesh settles itself, ready for carving, I put the roasting tin aside for later. Once dinner is over, I strip the carcass of any remaining juicy pieces of meat and set them aside. The bones and wings will go into my deepest pan. The goodness left in the roasting – the stuck-on bits of chicken, caramelised juices and the brown, Marmite-like goo from under the bird – will find its way into the roast chicken stock, to enrich and add deep savour to the resulting soup.

I tuck in a stalk or two of celery, a bunch of bay leaves and an onion. Water poured in, it is seasoned with peppercorns and a couple of cloves, then left to putter away on the hob for almost an hour. The stock is the beginnings of a supper of chickpeas and winter greens. I’m using purple sprouting broccoli, but kale is perfect too. Not quite soup, not quite stew, this is something for which you’ll need a spoon, but also a knife and fork for the pieces of chicken you’ve saved.

Frugal suppers, dinners based on leftovers, have an everlasting appeal. I like the idea of using everything, but particularly so when it utilises the remains of the Sunday roast. Chickpeas were my first choice here, but orzo is a temptation too.

March is often heralded as the start of spring, but I am inclined to think otherwise. Nothing much changes at this time of year, however we might wish it to. There are great greens – kale and cavolo nero and mustard greens – but the wait for spring vegetables seems endless. At this time I hunker down with some consoling familiar favourites, to make the most of the root vegetables and leafy greens, and make supper from larder staples of beans, pasta and lentils.

This is a good time to plan for the summer, and I have had the tomato catalogues out, deciding which to grow this year. Last year’s did well in deep pots on the kitchen roof. They got every drop of spare water from the kitchen, from washing vegetables and salad leaves. We barely wasted a drop all summer long. I have a fancy for tiny fruits in shades of yellow and orange that I can eat straight from the vine. Sungold and Gardener’s Delight did especially well last year. If we are to bask in another hot, long summer, it would be daft not to look at larger varieties too. They tend to be a little more capricious outdoors, but I will have a go. I might plant a cucumber again too. The last one produced plump green fruit that tasted very different from those in the shops. The very essence of cucumber, which is the essence of summer.

I am getting ahead of myself. While waiting for better weather, I have cheered things up with a few desserts. In particular, a tray of meringue on to which I piled cream, apples and marmalade sauce. The bitterness of the orange jam proved to be a welcome contrast to the crisp, sweet meringue and its marshmallow centre. A fruit jelly such as apple or redcurrant would work well too.

Chicken with chickpeas and greens

Serves 6. Ready in 90 minutes.

A recipe for the remains of the Sunday roast, the juicy pieces of chicken that are too good to miss. I often add the bits of jelly and baked-on meat juices from the roasting tin. Their addition makes for a cloudier stock, but with much depth of flavour. I sometimes enrich the stock with 8 chicken wings, roasted in a little olive oil at 200C/gas mark 6 until golden, then added to the stock with the chicken carcass.

Chickpeas are just one option. Haricot or cannellini beans are another. Any of the bean family will make this into a cheap and hearty supper.

onion 1 large
olive oil 3 tbsp
rosemary 2 sprigs
dried chilli flakes ½-1 tsp
potatoes 2 medium
bottled chickpeas 500g (drained weight)
chicken stock 1 litre
leftover roast chicken 250-350g
purple sprouting, cavolo nero or kale 125g
lemon juice a little

Peel and roughly chop the onion, warm the oil in a large, deep saucepan, then cook the onion till soft. A matter of about 15 minutes over a medium heat.

Pull the leaves from the rosemary and chop finely, then stir into the onion together with the dried chilli flakes. Cut the potatoes into small dice – there is no need to peel them – then stir into the onion. Drain and tip in the chickpeas, then pour in the stock (see below) and bring almost to the boil. Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes.

Break the chicken meat into large pieces. They should be no bigger than will fit comfortably on a soup spoon, but avoid the temptation to chop them into small pieces.

Bring a medium-sized pan of water to the boil and lightly salt it. Trim the purple sprouting, break into florets, cutting the stems into small pieces. Cook in the boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain.

Add the chicken pieces to the soup with the purple sprouting or kale.

Check the soup for seasoning, adding salt, black pepper and lemon juice as you think fit.

Divide the soup between bowls.

• To make your own stock, remove the meat from a roast chicken carcass and set aside.

Place the bones and carcass in a deep saucepan, including any wing tips or jelly from the roasting tin.

Slice a medium-sized onion in half and add to the pan with 2 stalks of celery, 3 bay leaves, 8 black peppercorns and 2 cloves. Pour in 2 litres of water, bring to the boil then lower the temperature so the stock bubbles very slowly. The stock should be ready in 50 minutes.