Rosół made with chicken alone

I only make rosół, Polish clear chicken broth, for my six-year-old daughter, who is an extraordinarily picky little food critic. By which I mean she likes her food simple, very traditional and confined to two or three kinds of meal. Rosół is one of them. As long as there are no carrots or parsley root floating in it. In fact, apart from pasta shaped like characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, nothing should be floating in that broth at all.

Trouble is, it’s hard to make rosół without vegetables. So if you have a little picky eater at home, get yourself a fine sieve before you set about making soup.

To be honest, I think rosół is an exceptionally primitive soup. All the magic lies in skimming it thoroughly, adding fresh vegetables and boosting the flavour with the monosodium glutamate in Vegeta seasoning. Oh, and cooking it. Still, a fragrant rosół is heaven in any primitive gob. Besides, the next day you can use it to make tomato soup.

At a glance:

Prep time: a long time, about 3 hours if you want it really good

Serves: 4 people (or two for two days)

How many calories: it’s fatty, and if you have it with pasta too, you shouldn’t be eating it on a diet

Ingredients for a warming chicken broth:

• One large whole chicken leg
• Four chicken drumsticks
• Two large carrots 
• A large parsley root (the white part that sits underground while it grows)
• A handful of fresh parsley leaves (the bit that sits above ground while it’s still growing)
• A piece of a large leek (the lower end)
• A medium-sized onion
• A small piece of celeriac
• Vegeta seasoning (yes, just like that, nice and primitive. I have the name of the site to live up to, so no grumbling)
• Soup pasta (whatever you like. It doesn’t taste quite as wonderful with rice)

Method (how to put the ingredients together and pull it off):

I wash the chicken thoroughly and put it in a large pot of water (about 1.5 litres of water). I cook it over a low “flame” (I get so tired of writing “flame” when I have absolutely no dealings with one in the kitchen. How else do you describe the power setting on an induction hob in one word? If you’ve any ideas, please share). This is really the most important stage of making the soup. As the water starts to boil, protein starts oozing out of the meat (I think it’s protein). You have to get rid of it. And you can’t just skim it once and call it a day (I know people who cook the chicken with the gas turned all the way up, and once all the scum has collected on the surface, they pour away the water and cook the chicken in fresh water. I think the soup turns out dreadful that way). You need to keep wielding that slotted spoon for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Once I’ve got rid of the scum, I add the Vegeta. By eye, but not too much or the soup will be too salty (and we all know what that can mean). Then in go the peeled vegetables, whole, neither sliced nor shredded (and half the parsley leaves too. I save the other half for the bowls just before serving). Ideally I’d char the onion, but ever since I got an induction hob that’s been mission impossible. So I throw it in after singeing it with a cigarette lighter. Then I cook everything over a low “flame” for two to two and a half hours. I check every so often for the odd bit of scum and skim it off if any appears.

Made this way, the broth is on the fatty side. But the aroma is lovely. I serve it with small pasta and a little fresh parsley. Enjoy!