Easy Eats: Sunday Roast Chicken Soup with Feta Schmear Toast

Got leftovers from Sunday night's roast chook? Turn them into this nourishing soup, says chef Sam Parish. Photo: Sam Parish

Never know what to do with the leftover bones and veg from a roast chicken dinner? These are the key ingredients to this bone-enriched soup and bring the depth of flavour needed for this mid-winter necessity: chicken soup. Left to do its thing all day or night in a slow cooker then boosted with lemon juice and crunchy garlic and feta-laden toast, this is simple food in its highest form.

Serves: 6-8 / Prep time: 15 minutes / Cook time: 8 hours

Ingredients

• Leftover bones from a roast chicken
• 1-2 leeks, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 parmesan rind
• 1 ½ cups pearl barley
• 100g smoked bacon, chopped
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 sprig rosemary, plus extra finely chopped to serve
• 2-3 leftover roasted potatoes, chopped (can substitute with 2 raw, clean, and chopped agria potatoes)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 6 slices sourdough
• 100g feta
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and cracked pepper to taste
   

Method

Place all the leftover roast chicken bones in the bowl of a slow cooker (or you can use a pressure cooker if you want to speed things along).

Add leek, celery, carrots, bay leaves, parmesan rind, barley, bacon, lemon zest, rosemary, and a good cracking of pepper. If using raw potatoes, add them now too.

Top with 2 litres of water, or less if it doesn’t fit in your pot—you can add more water later after it’s enriched. Set to low. Leave all day or overnight. There’s no maximum time, but you want at least six hours.

Remove the chicken bones from the broth, adding any bits of flaked chicken back to the soup. Season the broth with lemon juice (add another lemon if you think it needs it), add the leftover chopped roasted potatoes, and salt and cracked pepper. Give it a good stir, breaking the barley up slightly to thicken the soup. Set the soup to high and cook for 5 minutes to bring back to heat. (Alternatively transfer to a pot and top up with water if you think it needs it.)

Meanwhile, toast sourdough then rub with a raw garlic clove all over the surface. Divide the feta between the toast and spread to cover. Drizzle with olive oil and cut into croutons.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls, top with chopped toast, extra rosemary, and a good drizzle of olive oil.

Photo: Sam Parish

Sam Parish is a Christchurch-based chef, writer and food stylist. Her food philosophy is ‘maximum of flavour, minimum of fuss’ (MOFMOF), which means she’s all about cooking smarter, not harder. She’ll be sharing delicious, fast, family-friendly food ideas every Wednesday (after road-testing them on her own whānau, of course). Sam’s first book, Cook Me is out now.