Chicken Soup with Semolina Dumplings

There is no proper Slovenian lunch without a soup. This tradition started at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Everyone enjoyed the Saturday and Sunday soups - the rich and the poor. What differed was how much meat the soup was prepared with. Also, among the poor soup was often the only dish served for a meal, whereas in wealthier families it was just one of many dishes.

Recipe

Ingredients for the Soup:

• chicken carcass

• one small onion

• 1 clove garlic

• 3 carrots

• 1 stalk celery

• 1 parsley root

• 1 bay leaf

• a few black peppercorns

• 6 sprigs of parsley

• salt to taste

Semolina Dumplings:

• 1 egg

• 30 g butter (melted and then cooled)

• 60 g semolina (coarse ground wheat farina)

• salt to taste

Instructions:

Chicken Preparation:

1. First cut up the whole chicken with a sharp knife. Start by placing it on the cutting board, breast side up. Cut the skin between the breast and thigh on one side and then bend each leg back until thighbone pops out of its socket. Cut through the joint and remove the thigh completely. Repeat this on the other side.

2. Next, remove the wings. Turn the chicken around, pull the wing to the side, cut through the skin, break the shoulder joint, and detach the wing. Repeat on the other side.

3. Finally, remove the breast. Carefully run the knife alongside the breastbone and cut very close to the bones.

4. The two chicken legs, two wings, and two boneless chicken breasts can be used, for example, for preparing fried chicken. The chicken carcass is used for the soup.

Soup:

1. Wash the chicken carcass with water. Dice the onion into big chunks, and peel and dice the carrots and the parsley root. Dice the celery stalk.

2. Put the vegetables and the chicken carcass into a pot. Add 1 clove of garlic, salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, and three sprigs of parsley.

3. Add 2 liters of water and bring to a boil. Once the soup boils clean off the foam from the surface.

4. Cook for at least one hour on low heat (prepare the semolina dumplings during this time).

5. Remove the carcass, garlic, onion and parsley sprigs.

Semolina Dumplings:

1. Beat an egg in a bowl. While beating slowly mix in melted and cooled down butter. Season with salt.

2. Gradually add semolina while whisking the egg mixture.

3. Let stand for about 15 minutes.

4. Put 500 ml water into a pot and bring to a boil.

5. Dip a spoon into water and use it to shape a dumpling. This video shows how to do it with two spoons, but you can also just do it with hands (that you must wet beforehand).

6. Cook for about 15 minutes at low heat.

Serving the Chicken Soup:

1. Chop the remaining parsley.

2. When the dumplings are done, transfer them into soup bowls. Add chicken stock, sprinkle with parsley, and serve. If you wish, you can also add some carrots and meat pieces that cooked with the soup.