Leftover Moroccan Chicken Soup

On Saturday we had a lovely roast chicken, smothered inside and out in Lemon Chicken Spice Mix from the Spice Shop, stuffed with lemons and parsley, an often repeated recipe in our house which is rich and earthy, spicy and zesty from the roasted lemons. We were starving and made a good go of it but we had plenty of leftovers, which I normally turn into risotto, my hubbies favourite. Today though I wanted something lighter and restorative so I came up what I think is best described as a middle eastern take on minestrone. I'm thinking he wasn't so upset by the lack of risotto once he'd started eating....

Moroccan Soup with Leftover Chicken

1 roast chicken carcass, leftover flesh removed.

1 carrot, sliced in half

1 stick celery

2 bay leaves

1 onion diced

1 carrot diced

½ small butter not squash diced

1 corgette diced

1 red pepper diced

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can chick peas

1 quarter of a chorizo sausage, diced

1 teaspoon lemon chicken mix (optional)

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon corriander

1 glove garlic finely chopped

1 inch piece of garlic finely chopped

1 tablespoon honey

handfull of fresh parsley
grated carrot (optional)

Cover the carcass in water, add the halved carrot, celery and bay leaves, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 - 40 mins until you have a light stock, rich with the flavour from the spices you roasted the chicken in.

In the meantime, prepare your other vegetables.

Fry the chorizo cubes in a large saute pan in olive oil, remove when browned but retain the oil.

Add the onion, garlic, ginger and dry spices and fry.

Add the diced squash, carrot, corgette and brown.

Add the diced pepper, tomatoes, honey and chicken stock. Cook for 5 mins on gentle heat. Add the diced left over chicken, cook for a couple of minutes until the chicken is warmed through, add the chorizo and parsley, season to taste and serve with crusty bread of pittas.

I came across a recipe for moroccan carrot soup, which cooked carrot in the broth but then finished the dish with raw carrot for a light fresh lift and added crunch. I loved it so much I tried it in this dish and it worked here too - so add a handful of grated carrot at the end of cooking just prior to serving and see what you think.