A Festive quickie for you here, Cock a Leekie soup, traditionally made with rice, however if you have leftovers then tattie will absolutely do. Some would also add prunes, but those wee darlings are not for me.

      Cock a Leekie Soup

photo by Naomi Armet

• 1 whole Chicken or Turkey stock from boiling up the bones.
• 3 Carrots peeled and diced.
• 3 largish leeks sliced, try and get ones with green tops if possible as this adds colour to your soup, as you can see from my photo green tops were few and far between for me.
• 4 medium sized Potatoes, peeled and diced or 1 cup of rice.
• A handful of prunes if you are using them.

1. Put the whole Chicken in a large pot and cover with water, approx 1½-2 litres.
2. Bring to the boil and cook for around 1½hrs depending on the sizeof the Chicken, this recipe is based on a medium-large Chicken.
3. Remove the Chicken from the pot and set aside.
4. Add the vegetables and rice/prunes if your using to the pot and cook for an hour. (If you are using pre-cooked veg then obviously an hour only refers to uncooked veg).
5. Strip the Chicken of it’s meat, use about half of the meat, a mixture of dark and breast and return it to the pot. You can use all the meat if you prefer, however if you keep half then a curry is there to tempt you the next night.