Veggie Orzo Chicken Broth

Serves 5

  • 3 cloves of garlic thinly sliced

  • 1 white onion thinly sliced

  • 1 thumb of ginger grated

  • 1 leek thinly sliced

  • A punnet of white mushrooms thinly sliced

  • A punnet of chanterray carrots (I used purple ones) halved lengthways

  • 2 sticks of celery chopped thinly

  • 1 bag of chopped cavolo Nero/spinach

  • 250g Orzo rice

  • 1 rotisserie chicken shredded

  • Bunch of parsley chopped

  • 4 spring onions thinly sliced

  • Black pepper and salt

Put the garlic, ginger and onion in a large sauce pan and cook for 4 minutes till fragrant and soft. Add the mushrooms and the leek and cook again for 3-4 mins. Then add your stock, carrots, celery, parsley stalks, lots of ground pepper and a tsp of kosher salt to the pan and simmer for 20 mins. Now shred your chicken with two forks and keep in a separate bowl. Just before veggie broth cooking time is finished, cook your orzo in a separate pan till al dente (I do it separately so I can freeze whatever veggie broth I don’t eat). Add the cavolo nero and spring onions to the broth, and simmer for another 5 mins.

I taste it now before serving, and often find a tbs of bouillon can make the world of difference here, but this is entirely up to you. .

To serve, place three tbs of orzo at the bottom of the bowl, followed by a generous ladle of veggie broth and a handful of shredded chicken. Top with ground black pepper, and the chopped parsley. Chilli flakes are good too!

MEATMimi McMullen