These flavoursome chicken soups are tender loving care in a bowl

I find comfort in making soup when someone in the house is under the weather.

‘Get well soups’. Recipes by Elizabeth Hewson Photography by Nikki To / TWAM

Sickness has been circling our house for what feels like months. One child gets better, the other starts coughing. Then it’s my turn. A never-ending loop.

When I was a child, as awful as it was being sick, there was also something strangely comforting about it. The permission to slow down, stay in pyjamas all day, be looked after. Mum would make her chicken soup, rub Vicks on my chest, roll up cold face washers and press them against my forehead and the back of my neck. Tepid baths, soft hands, quiet care.

I ache for that now when I’m the unwell – but the reality of being a parent is that you’re the one doing the caring, even when you’re the one who needs looking after. Mum made it all look so effortless. I know now just how much it takes.

Still, even in the thick of it, I find comfort in making soup when someone in the house is under the weather. And while a classic chicken and noodle soup will always have its place, there are only so many bowls you can eat before it starts to feel as repetitive as the daycare lurgy itself.

So today, I’m sharing two soups that have been helping me through. The first is affectionately known in Italy as “Italian penicillin” – and it earns the name. A golden, creamy broth made from vegetables, chicken stock, and time, blitzed smooth and stirred through with a handful of pastina (tiny pasta). Creamy without cream. Light but rich. A bowl of sunshine. Just looking at it feels restorative. While you can cook the pasta directly in the broth, I like to keep it ­separate, as often the soup stretches over a few days. (I am not a fan of swollen pasta, ­however sick I am.) I can’t help myself with finishing it off with a vibrant green drizzle, but this is of course optional.

The second soup is what I turn to when I want something with more punch. It sits somewhere between a congee and a classic chicken soup – rice ­simmered with chicken thigh cutlets on the bone. The fat is rendered and used to crisp the skin into golden shards, and a sizzling ginger, shallot and chilli sauce gets spooned over the top. That sauce is the jolt back to life. The crispy skin idea came from one of my favourite food writers, Andy Baraghani, and now I never skip it. A little treat when you’re feeling low.

Two soups for sick days – or any day you need a little extra care.

Italian ‘penicillin soup’

Goodness in a bowl. Italian ‘penicillin soup’. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

For goodness sake: all the right stuff. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Run a vegetable peeler along the celery to remove any strings – this small step helps give the soup a more silky finish. Use vegetable stock in place of chicken if you want a vegetarian soup.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra to serve

• 1 onion, roughly chopped

• 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

• 2 celery stalks, peeled and roughly chopped

• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

• 1.2 litres chicken or vegetable stock (or a mix of stock and water)

• 1 Parmigiano Reggiano rind, optional, but worthwhile
• Salt and pepper, to taste

• 1/3 cup small pasta such as ditalini, stelline or orzo



Parsley and garlic drizzle


• 1 cup parsley leaves, loosely packed

• 1 lemon

• ½ garlic clove, grated

• 2 tablespoon olive oil

Method

1. In a deep pot, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic, and cook gently for about 10 minutes or until softened, without colouring. Pour in the stock and drop in the Parmigiano rind if using. Season to taste. Simmer, uncovered, for just shy of an hour, until everything is soft and mellow. Remove the rind, then use a slotted spoon to scoop out the vegetables along with a generous cup or two of broth. Blitz in a blender until completely smooth and silky. Return the purée to the pot and stir through the remaining broth.

2. For the parsley and garlic drizzle, very finely chop the parsley (or bash in a mortar and pestle). Add to a bowl with the grated garlic, zest of the lemon, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon to your liking. Stir. You can loosen with more oil if desired.
3. Meanwhile, bring a separate pot of salted water to the boil and cook your pasta until al dente. Drain well and spoon a little into the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the hot soup over the top, and finish with a pinch of salt, a crack of pepper, and a loving drizzle of olive oil – just to say, Feel better.

Serves 4

Chicken and rice soup

Cold comforts: chicken and rice soup. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

A bowl of health. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

If the frying of the chicken skin is a step too far, you can skip this and start the recipe when heating the oil in the pan. If using skinless, boneless chicken thighs, use 1.5 litres of chicken stock, and skip the water.

Ingredients

• 3 spring onions, finely sliced, both white and green parts

• ¼-½ teaspoon dried chilli, optional

• 30g ginger, finely sliced into matchsticks
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 chicken thigh cutlets, skin on, bone in

• 3 tablespoons neutral oil such as vegetable or grapeseed

• ½ cup sushi or jasmine rice
• 2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 6 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1 litre water
• 1 lemon

Method

1. Add spring onions to a heatproof bowl along with dried chilli flakes and soy sauce. Set aside.
2. Tear off the skin from the chicken thighs and put meat to the side. Using a heavy-based pan, lay the chicken skin out on the bottom of the pan. Pour over the oil. Turn heat to medium and gently crisp the chicken skin.
3. Leave to render without touching; slowly it will release itself, then use tongs to move it around and turn over – but beware of the fat spitting. It will shrivel and rip but that’s OK, the goal is to achieve crispy skin. This should take about 5 minutes. Carefully pick up chicken skin and lay on a plate covered with baking paper. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Now throw half of your garlic and half of your ginger into the hot oil and rendered chicken fat left in the pot. Cook for one minute until starting to turn golden and crisp. Pour this, along with most of the oil, over your spring onion, soy and chilli. It will sizzle. Stir and set aside.
5. Return pot to the stove on a medium heat. Throw your skinless chicken cutlets into the pot along with the remaining garlic, ginger, mushrooms, rice, fish sauce, stock and water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to very low. Simmer for 35-40 minutes, until the rice is soft and the chicken is cooked through. Pluck out chicken thighs and shred with a fork. Add chicken back in and discard the bones. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice to your liking and adjust seasoning.
6. Ladle into bowls, top with your sizzling shallot, chilli, ginger and garlic oil, and scatter over crispy chicken skin. Heal.

Serves 4