chicken soup with pasta, carrots, and parsley dumplings

So, after I'd eaten the tarragon chicken, I still had lots left over. Instead of my usual chicken soup with rice, I decided to finally try a recipe from a very old NYTimes Cookbook for parsley dumplings, and a good strong chicken broth loaded with carrots, pasta ( a very cute pasta called Cellentani from Barilla which is curly) and herbs.

Take your leftover roasted chicken out of the fridge. Break up the chicken pieces and add the pieces to a stockpot. Add the bones, if you've saved them, from dinner. I added some leeks, parsley stems, unpeeled carrots,( cut up), onions. Add water to cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes, then drain the broth into a bowl, straining out the solids.

For the soup:

about 2 cups bite size pieces of chicken

2 onions, coarsely chopped

a bag of small, peeled baby carrots

1 T. fresh rosemary, chopped or not

1 t. or more dried thyme

chicken bouillion cubes or strong chicken stock if needed

salt and freshly ground pepper

Bring soup to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes. While it's cooking, make the parsley dumpling dough:

1 1/2 cups King Arthur flour

2 t. baking powder

salt and pepper

2 T. chopped parsley

1 T. fresh rosemary, chopped

3 T. cold unsalted butter, cut up

1/2 to 3/4 cup milk or chicken stock ( I used a little over 1/2 cup, the recipe called for 3/4 cup)

Place flour, baking powder, salt and pepper, and herbs in mixer bowl. Add the butter and mix until it resembles cornmeal. Start with adding 1/2 cup liquid to the flour mix - if it forms a good dough, you're fine. If it's too dry, add a little more liquid.

Form into a large ball. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a large marble, and roll into balls.

After your soup has simmered for 40 minutes, carefully place the parsley dumpling balls on top of the simmering soup in a layer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove cover and, using a slotted spoon, remove parsley dumplings to a microwave-safe dish.

Add a few handfuls of pasta ( I used a curly one) to the soup and continue to simmer until the pasta is just tender. Taste the soup for a final seasonings check and add salt, pepper, more parsley, rosemary, or thyme as you wish.

Place parsley dumplings in a microwave and zap for 3 minutes. This firms them up a little.

Ladle soup into large bowls, and, very gently, add the parsley dumplings.

Enjoy!

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