Chicken soup with semolina dumplings

If you are looking for something healthy, delicious and special, then this soup is perfect for you. In my family this is highly appreciated by the grown-ups as well as by the kids. This is also a good natural remedy in case of flu or colds and a way of warming-up during the cold days too.

The semolina dumplings make the difference between this soup and the others. It’s not difficult to make them at all, if you just know the secret. I will tell you further what’s all about.

Finally I want to tell you that I will not specify any exact quantities, because it depends on how many persons are eating the soup and how do you like it. I would just say that the best combination is between the carrots (1/2 of the whole quantity of vegetables), celery (1/4) and parsnip (1/4).

Prep: 15 min

Cook: max. 1,5 hours

Difficulty: medium

Ingredients

For the soup:

Carrots

Celery root

Parsnip

1 onion

Chicken legs or other chicken pieces with bones

Salt

Olive oil

Fresh parsley, finely chopped

For the semolina dumplings:

1 egg

8-9 tbsp semolina flour

Salt

Method

Put the chicken pieces and the vegetables (only pealed, not cut) in a big pot, add salt or bouillon cubes and cold water enough to cover them (for 4 persons, I would say around 3-3,5 litters) and bring to boil. Lower the heat and take out from time to time the meat foam. Leave the soup to boil around 1 hour. Try the vegetables with a fork to see if they are cooked. If the fork goes in easily, then they are ready. Take out from the soup the meat and the vegetables. You can prepare a delicious "boeuf salad" out of them. Click here to see this recipe.

10 minutes before the soup is ready prepare the dumplings: beat the egg white with salt, add then the egg yolk and finally the semolina flour. Mix well to a smooth batter. Leave it rest 5-7 min.

Immediately after you took the meat and the vegetables out of the soup, form a dumpling from the mixture, by using two teaspoons and drop it carefully into the boiling soup. Keep doing this until you finish the whole mixture. Add immediately a glass of cold water to the soup, cover the pot and boil for 10 min. Then try one dumpling. It has to be soft. If it isn’t, add another glass of cold water and boil for another 10 min. Now the dumplings should be soft. So the secret of the perfect dumplings is to add cold water. You can watch the video below to see exactly how I'm doing the dumplings.

Finally add some olive oil and some fresh parsley.

The soup with semolina dumplings is now ready! Enjoy it!

My tips:

You can eat the soup together with the meat and the vegetables. I like to add in the soup a couple of carrots, coarsely chopped and chicken meat without the bones. The rest not, because my kids do not like the others vegetables.
Out of the chicken meat you can make a delicious stew. I will present this recipe in the future.
The semolina dumplings have to be soft. If they aren’t don’t be afraid to add another glass of COLD water. Maybe you will have to add some salt or bouillon cubes as well.
When you prepare this soup for the first time, you can boil the dumplings separate in a big pan with salty water or with bouillon cubes.

The video below is about making the semolina dumplings. For more videos, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel.