Green Chicken Minestrone with Gremolata

Make the most of in season zucchini with this green minestrone. This recipe uses a whole chicken to make the broth base, which then gets shredded and added to the minestrone. Featuring hints of fennel and a burst of zesty citrus from the lemon, adding the gremolata at the end ties it all together with a deliciously herbaceous and garlicky undertone.  

Serves four, with leftovers  

Ingredients  

 For the minestrone  

• 3 tbsp EVOO 
• 10 black peppercorns 
• 2 star anise  
• 1 tsp fennel seeds  
• 3 celery sticks, roughly chopped 
• 1 large carrot, roughly chopped 
• 1 large brown onion, halved  
• 3 bay leaves 
• 2 sprigs of rosemary  
• Whole chicken, roughly 1.8-2kg 
• 1 large or 2 medium zucchini, finely diced 
• 300g frozen garden peas 
• 1x 400g can of cannellini beans  
• 250g ditalini, or any other small soup pasta  

For the gremolata  

• 1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped  
• Zest of half a lemon  
• 1 garlic clove, minced  
• EVOO 

Grated Parmigiano Reggiano to serve  

Method  

 For the minestrone  

1. Heat olive oil in a large, deep saucepan (big enough for the chicken), and throw in the peppercorns, star anise and fennel seeds. Fry gently until fragrant, then add the celery, carrot and onion.  
2. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon and throw it in with the veggies. Saute everything for a few minutes before adding the bay leaves, rosemary, the whole chicken and a generous pinch or two of salt. 
3. Cover everything with water until the chicken is just covered, slowly bring up to a boil then reduce to the lowest possible flame and allow the broth to bubble away over 2-3 hours.  
4. Remove the chicken from the broth and shred the meat from the bone when it’s cool enough to handle - discarding the skin.  
5. Strain the liquid into another saucepan, squeezing as much out of the veggies to get all of that flavour into the broth - check the broth for seasoning and add salt to taste.  
6. Put the broth back on the stove and add in the diced zucchini, peas, cannellini beans and ditalini. Cook for a minute less than the pasta packet instructions. Stir through the shredded chicken then turn the heat off and let the minestrone sit for 10 minutes before serving.  

For the gremolata 

1. While the minestrone is resting, make the gremolata by combining the chopped parsley, lemon zest, minced garlic and enough olive oil to bind into a dressing.  
2. Divide the minestrone between bowls. Serve with dollops of the gremolata and grated Parmigiano.  

This recipe was created by Gabriella from @_noregrettispaghetti, check out Gabriella's instagram page here or website here. 

Gabriella is a Londoner born to Armenian/Canadian parents, with a love of all things Italian, especially pasta. She fell in love with food between the pages of her mum’s Reader’s Digest cookbooks, and at the table of her grandmother’s Cypriot kitchen, watching dolma be rolled and lahmajun made. 

When she’s not making her favourite carb, she can be found sharing some of her recipes on her blog, drinking far too much coffee, or hanging out with her dog, Gordon.