This creamy chicken soup is ready in less than 20 minutes and is above and beyond anything that you’d find in a can. It’s fresh, wholesome and light enough for summer days. Grate over a little nutmeg, dunk in buttery bread and leave me a comment to tell me how much you love it.
I was asked by Santander to create a recipe themed around the holiday research that they’ve been doing for the Santander 123 credit card. I chose to go with Belgium where a holiday costs an average of £88 a day not including a hotel. Interestingly that’s 12% more expensive than it was in 2010, showing its rising popularity amongst the other growing holiday destinations like Barbados and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. To me, that’s more reason than ever to find out what I’m missing and take a good look at their food, because that’s my favourite thing about holidays. I bet you could have guessed that though.
I think this is the perfect dinner party starter, particularly if you fancied carrying on the Belgian theme and creating a mini get away around your dining table. If you’re lucky enough to be going on holiday though, booking through a credit card is the safest way to do things. It’s called a Section 75 and it covers any purchases over £100- there’s some geekery that will come in handy for you. Back to soup…
I’ve used Charlotte potatoes here, which are normally associated with salads, but their waxy texture makes them perfect to hold their own in a summer soup. They’re also in season right now, all the way through until October, so I get points for that right?
Based on a classic Belgian recipe called waterzooi, this is traditionally made with fish and thickened with eggs. I’ve adapted it to make this quick and easy chicken version with a fool proof thickening method. I’ll be honest, the idea of cracking an egg in to hot soup isn’t appealing. When I was researching this recipe, the second I came across the egg thickening technique I was all “nope, backing away now”. I came up with an easy alternative so let’s skip that threat of disaster and I’ll show you how to make it super creamy without risking scrambled eggs.
The “ouch hot” water technique makes a reappearance in this recipe. It’s my way of poaching chicken for tender, succulent meat. It’s a great skill to get under your belt, particularly for soups. I’ve written more about it in my Thai tom kha gai soup recipe.
- 1 Leek
- 1 Stick of celery, thinly sliced
- 750ml Chicken stock
- 1 Bay leaf
- 200g Potatoes (charlotte)
- 2 Carrots, sliced in rounds
- 300g Chicken breast, sliced
- 100ml Single cream
- Bunch of parsley
- Begin by slicing the leeks in to coins. Using a large saucepan over a medium heat, add a knob of butter then fry the leeks until softened.
- Add the celery, chicken stock and bay leaf and bring the pan to a simmer.
- Cut the potatoes in to inch chunks and leaving the skin on, add to the pan.
- After 8 minutes, the potatoes should be nearly fork tender. Add the carrots and season heavily with black pepper. Turn off the heat.
- Once the carrots have been in for 3 minutes, the soup should have cooled to "ouch hot", as in you can just put your finger in the pan without being scalded. This is the perfect temperature to poach the chicken at.
- Add the chicken. Leave to poach for 5 minutes.
- Remove the bayleaf before adding the cream and chopped parsley. Stir through and check seasoning. Add more pepper and salt if necessary.
Serve with a light grating of nutmeg or squeeze of lemon and crusty bread
If you’re a soup lover, check out my other favourites: Acquacotta, Tom kha gai, Minestrone
This post was sponsored by Santander as part of their #SantanderStaycation
Julie says
This was so easy and quick to make and it’s delicious.