CHICKEN & YUFKA SOUP
Serves 6, Ready in 1.5 Hours
Yufka is like the Albanian version of Italian tagliatelle. Made with eggs, flour and milk, yufka has a great consistency for soaking up sauce and is traditionally used in ‘yufka me pule’ (yufka with chicken). I tried this for the first time when I was in Albania over the winter and loved how the tender chicken blended perfectly into the yufka that had been infused with a flavourful stock while it was cooking. It sparked my imagination to create this chicken yufka soup.
Inspired by Albania’s traditional yufka dish and the comfort of a chicken noodle soup, this dish is the ultimate hug in a bowl!
The addition of stirring through feta sauce may seem a bit interesting but trust me- it’s like when you add a dollop of creme fraiche to a chicken and leek soup, or sour cream to a goulash, it just takes it to the next level!
INGREDIENTS
For the soup:
1kg Chicken drumsticks
2x Onions, finely chopped
3x Garlic cloves, finely chopped
3x Leeks (around 500g) chopped
3x Carrots, chopped
3x Celery sticks, chopped
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
3x Bay leaves
Small bunch thyme leaves
1/2 Teaspoon fennel seeds
Small bunch parsley, chopped
1 Teaspoon dried oregano
160g Yufka
1.5L Chicken stock
To serve:
Quality feta in brine that has been mashed together (using a little of the brine if needed) to soften it into a thick sauce.
METHOD
Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan and add the garlic, onion, leek, carrot & celery. Sauté until soft.
Add the drumsticks & season well with salt and pepper.
Add the chicken stock, bay leaves, thyme, fennel seeds, oregano and parsley.
Leave to simmer on a low heat for 1 hour until the chicken is cooked.
When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan, take off any skin and pull the meat from the bones.
Add the chicken meat back into the soup, along with the yufka and cook for another 10 minutes or so until the yufka is cooked.
Serve when the yufka is cooked, discarding any thyme stems and bay leaves before serving.
Serve with the thick feta sauce on the side so that you can add a dollop to the hot soup and stir it through just before tucking in.