Appetizer Recipes : Chunky Chicken Pot Pie Soup & Pot Pie Dumplings

Serves 6 to 8

CHUNKY CHICKEN SOUP:

Ingredients :

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium leeks, trimmed, thoroughly rinsed, and chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

8 cups good-quality canned chicken broth

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 pound small white button mushrooms, quartered

1 (10-ounce) bag frozen peas with pearl onions

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips

Salt

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 cup heavy cream

POT PIE DUMPLINGS:

Ingredients :

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leafed (Italian) parsley, plus extra for garnishing

First, prepare the soup. In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the leeks, onion, celery, and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, until just softened, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle and stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, taking care not to let the flour brown.

Remove the pot from the heat and, stirring constantly, slowly pour in 6 cups of the broth. Add the carrots, mushrooms, peas and onions, chicken, 1 teaspoon of salt, the tarragon, and the white pepper. Return the pot to medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the chicken is done and the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the remaining 2 cups of broth in a separate shallow saucepan and add 1 cup of cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

For the dumplings, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl. With a pastry blender or the tines of a table fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and parsley, then stir them into the flour mixture until a dough forms.

Reduce the heat under the boiling broth to maintain a simmer. Using a greased teaspoon, gently scoop up rounded teaspoons of the dough and carefully drop them into the broth. Cook until the dumplings are well risen and cooked through and float on the surface, about 7 minutes. Keep them warm in a small amount of the broth until ready to serve, reserving the remaining cooking liquid.

Before serving, stir the cream into the soup. Adjust the soup's thickness, if necessary, by stirring in some of the broth in which the dumplings cooked. Taste the soup and add more salt to taste, if necessary. Add the cooked dumplings, raise the heat under the soup pot to medium, and heat through until the soup is almost but not quite boiling.

Tips : Serve the soup immediately, ladling it into large warmed bowls and arranging the dumplings on top. Garnish each bowl with extra parsley.