While I’m learning how this motherhood thing works I’m also trying to come up with healthy baby foods for my 8-month old. I just made this soup for him last week and OMG, he devoured a whole bowl of soup (baby-sized bowl of course!). He loved the dumplings but be careful when you make them… for babies you’re only supposed to use the egg yolk before they turn 1 as the egg whites can cause allergic reactions. I made them using egg yolks only and they turned out great!

This soup was my favourite as a child and it still is so I’m glad our baby loves it too! It’s such a vitamin-rich soup that is light and low in calories & fat at the same time.  Also, it’s great for picky eaters as they don’t get to see all the veggies (and gag on them or throw up as I used to do : -P) while still getting important nutrients.

Time: 90 min, Prep: 30 min. Cook: 60 min.
Servings: 8

Ingredients:            

For soup:

• 4 l water
• ½ chicken (organic stewing hens make the best soup!)
• 2 onions
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 4-inch pieces
• 1 small celery root, peeled and cut in half
• 2 carrots, peeled
• 3 potatoes, peeled
• Other vegetables / roots such will definitely give a better flavour – I added parsley root & stems as well
• Salt, pepper
• Freshly chopped parsley for serving

For dumplings:

• 7 tablespoons of semolina
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of butter
• a pinch of salt

Directions:

Put the water to boil, add the chicken as well as the veggies & roots – whole onion, carrots, potatoes, celery etc. Add salt and pepper to taste. With a strainer or slotted spoon remove foam that forms on top of the soup and discard. Boil for about 45 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender when pierced with a knife. Then remove chicken and vegetables from the stock.

In the meantime, stir the butter with the eggs and salt. Add the semolina a little at a time (like a rain), stirring continuously.

This results in a mixture that should have the thickness of sour cream.

In a separate pot, bring 2 l water to boil and add some salt. Reduce heat to medium. Then cut little dumplings from the semolina mixture with a tablespoon and drop them into the boiling water. Leave to simmer gently for about 10 minutes until the dumplings rise to the surface and are fluffy.

After the soup was strained into a clean pot, set to boil and reduce heat to medium.

Move the dumplings into the chicken broth and let them boil for 5 more minutes.

Add thinly chopped parsley to the soup. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Gently place the dumplings in the serving bowl (so they do not break) and pour the soup on top of them.

Tips:

– Dip the tablespoon into the hot water before cutting the dumplings with the tablespoon. This way the semolina mixture won’t stick to your tablespoon and it will be easier to make the dumplings.

– Cut small pieces as they get 3-4 times bigger while boiling.

– You can also boil the dumplings directly in the chicken broth for 15 minutes. I boiled them separately in salted water just to have a clear soup as some of the dumplings may break while boiling / stirring.