The next time you’re having a roast chicken, this carrot, chicken and barley soup is the ideal thing for the next day. Use the chicken bones to make delicious fresh chicken stock, the last bits of chicken meat and any leftover vegetables like potatoes or peas – all can be stirred in. Pearl barley thickens the soup and makes it really hearty too. It’s a delicious, warming soup for any time of year.

Serves 4-6

Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes (an extra 1hour 20minutes if you make the stock)

What You’ll Need:

• 15ml/1tbsp vegetable oil
• 450g/1lb carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 leek, cleaned and sliced
• 1.2lt/2 pt chicken stock (see box)
• 75g/3oz pearl barley
• 175g/6oz cooked chicken, broken into bite sized chunks
• 175g/6oz cooked potatoes, chopped
• 100g/4oz cooked vegetables such as peas, broccoli, or green beans

What To Do:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the carrots and leek, then saute over a medium heat for 4 mins. Add the stock, pearl barley, chicken and potatoes and season well.
2. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 20-25 mins or until the pearl barley and carrots are tender. Stir in the cooked vegetables, return to the boil and simmer for 1 min. Stir in the parsley and season to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.

To make chicken stock:

1. Pick all the chicken that you can off a chicken carcass and set aside. Place the chicken bones, and skin in a large pan, cover with about 2.4ltr (4pts) water, add a bay leaf if you like, then bring to the boil.
2. Cover and simmer for 30 mins to extract all the goodness from the bones, then remove the lid and simmer for a further 40mins or so or until the liquid has reduced by half.
3. Strain to remove the bones then leave to stand for 5 mins. Use a spoon to skim off any excess fat which rises to the surface of the stock. It’s now ready to use but can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days or frozen for upto 6 months.

Cooks Tip: To save time you can always make chicken stock with a stock cube or concentrate.

Recipe from Britishcarrots.co.uk