My sister-in-law Emily [Blunt] is not only a great actress but also a wonderful cook. This is one of her signature dishes. Emily says: “I made this soup for my husband John, and he says it may be the reason he wanted to be my husband. Now, that’s a lot to put on a soup, but hey, I’ll take it.”
Emily’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves 4 to 6
• 2 medium yellow onions
• 5 bone-in, skin-on chicken leg-and-thigh pieces
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 medium carrots, diced
• 4 celery stalks, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 2½ tbsp finely diced fresh ginger
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 2 tbsp barbecue sauce (optional)
• 1 bay leaf
• 450g extra-wide egg noodles
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Finely dice one onion, then set aside. Halve the remaining onion lengthwise, then cut it into chunky half-moon slices. Scatter the slices on a baking sheet. Place the chicken pieces on top. Tuck the thyme sprigs into the chicken, then brush it with a little of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
In a large cast-iron casserole, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion, carrots, and celery, then sweat the vegetables, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Add the garlic and ginger, stir, and cook for 3-5 minutes more.
Pour in the wine and let it cook down for a few minutes, then add the chicken broth and bouillon cubes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a very low simmer.
Remove the chicken skin and shred the meat roughly from the bones – the meat will become very tender and break down further in the soup. Add the shredded chicken to the soup with the onions and any juices from the baking sheet. These should be really juicy and caramelised and will add great flavour. Stir in the barbecue sauce if using.
Throw in a bayleaf and a couple of the chicken leg bones, cover and cook at a very low simmer for about 2 hours.
When the soup is ready, remove from the heat, fish out the bones and the bay leaf, then let it sit.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the egg noodles and cook according to the packet directions. Drain and divide the noodles among the serving bowls. Ladle the soup over the top and serve.
Paella (Stovetop Version)
This version calls for a 36cm paella pan.
Serves 4
For the sofrito
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ red onion, chopped
• ½ sweet onion, chopped
• ½ shallot, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• ¼ red pepper, chopped
• ¼ green pepper, chopped
• ½ tsp saffron, lightly toasted
• 1 400g tin plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 1 bay leaf
• sea salt
For the paella
• 225g jumbo shrimp
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 225g bomba rice (or other shortgrain rice)
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• ½ cup white wine
• 1½ cups chicken stock
• 1½ cups seafood stock
• 225g clams, cleaned
• 225g mussels, cleaned and debearded
Peel half the shrimps, then set aside. In the paella pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the unpeeled shrimps and cook for a couple of minutes until they are halfway to changing colour. Set aside.
For the sofrito: in the paella pan, heat the olive oil over low heat.
Add the onions and the shallot, then cook gently to soften them without allowing them to colour. Add the garlic and the peppers, then cook over low heat until softened. Stir in the toasted saffron and paprika. Add the tomatoes and the bay leaf, and season generously with salt. Cook until the mixture has softened – 7-10 minutes.
Raise the heat to medium-high and add the rice and the white wine. Stir everything together until the alcohol has burnt off.
Add the chicken and seafood stocks, then bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, spread the ingredients out evenly in the pan, then cook for about 15 minutes without stirring until the rice has absorbed a lot of the liquid. Add the clams, mussels, and all of the shrimp, never stirring, and continue cooking until the shellfish open – about 5-10 minutes.
If, at this point, the rice is looking a bit damp, raise the heat for a few minutes to evaporate the liquid. Ideally, the rice will now have a lovely golden crust on the bottom, which the Spanish call a socarrat.
Remove from the heat and serve.
Polenta Frites
These are a great alternative to French fries.
Serves 4 to 6
For the polenta
All brands of polenta behave differently, so use this recipe as a blueprint. Choose your favourite type – be it coarse or fine, handmilled or quick-cook – check the instructions on the package, then make the recipe your own. If you don’t want to use the milk, make sure you replace it with the same volume of water.
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup milk (optional)
• 2½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1¼ cups polenta
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
In a medium saucepan, bring the water and milk (if using) to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the salt and olive oil, then reduce the heat to low. Add the polenta, then simmer, stirring, for about 30 minutes or until the polenta is cooked. It should be thick, tender, and pourable. Stir in the butter and parmigiano and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Use this to make Polenta Frites (below), or cut it into slices to pan-fry or grill.
For the frites
• cooked polenta, cold
• ¼-½ cup freshly grated parmigiano
• vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• sea salt
• leaves from 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
The day before you want to serve these, make a batch of polenta (above). Pour it into a greased baking tray, then set aside to cool. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Gently remove the polenta from the pan and cut it into 6 x 1.5 x 1.5cm chunks – think of a chunky French fry. Then gently roll each one in the parmigiano. Place the polenta frites on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet, then put them in the fridge until needed.
When you’re ready to cook, heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 180°C. Working in batches, fry the frites until crisp and golden – 3-4 minutes per batch. Using the basket, remove the frites and set aside to drain on paper towels. While still hot, season with salt and fresh rosemary, then serve immediately.
Alternatively, heat half a centimetre of vegetable oil in a heavy cast-iron sauté pan. You don’t want the oil to cover the polenta frites, you want it just to bubble to the top of them when they are added.
Once the oil is hot enough (ie, when it cooks a piece of bread to golden), place a few frites at a time into the hot oil (don’t overcrowd the pan), turning occasionally until they are crisp and golden on all sides – about 5 minutes.
Remove the frites with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on paper towels before seasoning with salt, fresh rosemary, and extra parmigiano. l
An edited extract from The Tucci Table, by Stanley Tucci and Felicity Blunt (Hachette, $70).
