Chicken & Puy Lentil Soup

This is a quick outline of our chicken and puy lentil soup. I love the texture and nuttiness of puy lentils, and the creaminess of well cooked barley.

~Chicken & Puy Lentil Soup~
1 large chicken carcase or 2 small
salt
water to cover chicken
olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
2 small parsnips, finely chopped
3 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 handfuls of green puy lentils
2 handfuls of pearl barley

Place chicken carcase(s) in a stockpot and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and add a good pinch of salt. Allow to simmer gently until meat shreds are soft, then turn off.

Remove carcases and pick off all meat. Shred meat then return it to the stock and discard the bones and any skin. If you want to remove the melted fat, allow the stock to cool then chill in the fridge overnight and skim off the fat.

Heat a sploosh of olive oil in a large heavy based saucepan and sweat onions over lowish heat. When onions are translucent, add the other veges and continue to cook slowly to allow the onions to caramelise. Add back the stock with the puy lentils and barley.

Add more or less water/veges/lentils/barley according to how thick you prefer soup. I like ours quite thick.

Bring soup to the boil and simmer until lentils and barley are soft.

I like to add any extra seasonings, like black pepper, salt, chopped herbs, olive or sesame oil etc to individual bowls when serving.