Chicken Dumplings in Lemon Saffron Broth

Chicken dumplings are made from chicken mince, garlic, fresh breadcrumbs, wine and parsley and simmered in a lemon saffron broth with vegetables and barley. This is served with sliced spring onions, a dollop of yoghurt and coriander sprigs.

Prep:
25mins
Cook:
25mins
Serves:
4

Ingredients

150g Pearl barley

600g Free range chicken mince

1 teaspoon Salt

2 Cloves garlic, finely chopped

50g Sliced Ciabatta torn into tiny pieces or blitzed in a food processor to crumbs

50ml Dry white wine

10g Parsley, chopped finely

1 litre Reduced chicken stock

250ml water

Large pinch saffron threads soaked for 5 minutes in 50mls hot water

Zest of 1 lemon

Peel of ½ preserved lemon, finely diced

½ a Celery stick, thinly sliced

1 Small carrot, thinly sliced

2 Zucchini, thinly sliced

4 Baby leeks, white part only, sliced 1.5cm

Juice of 1 lemon

150ml plain unsweetened yoghurt

1 spring onion, thinly sliced on the diagonal

10g coriander sprigs

Method

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the barley and boil gently for 25 minutes or until the barley is tender

Drain well

Meanwhile put the chicken mince, salt, garlic bread, wine and parsley into a bowl and mix well. Reserve

Put the stock, 250ml of water, the saffron and 50ml of water, the lemon zest, preserved lemon, celery and carrot into a large, wide saucepan and bring to the boil

Drop egg-sized spoonfuls of the mince mixture into the stock mixture side by side. These are the dumplings, you will have 16 dumplings

Boil gently for 6 minutes or until cooked through

Add the drained barley, the zucchini and leeks and boil gently for 5 minutes

Add the juice

Taste and season

Serve the dumplings, broth, vegetables and barley with a spoonful of yoghurt, some sliced spring onion and plenty of coriander sprigs