Broth
To be able to make good broth or stock is really important as it is infinitely tastier than using a
stock cube. A chicken should give you three meals – first you roast it, then you eat the leftovers
cold with a nice chutney, and then you make broth with the bones and remaining meat. I find
chicken stock excellent for making risotto; the flavour really lifts the whole dish.
My aunt Fiorina, who grew rice and kept chickens and who would eat risotto twice a day,
always made her risotto with real broth. On the rare occasions she didn’t have real broth (she
also kept it in the freezer), she wouldn’t bother making the risotto as it just wouldn’t taste of
anything.
You can use this stock in different ways – to make risotto, to make minestrone and soups,
or just add some tortellini and reheat to make a classic Tortellini in Brodo, served with some
toasted stale bread with a drizzle of olive oil and some grated Parmesan cheese.
Ingredients:
1 chicken carcass
1 carrot, scraped
1 onion, peeled
1 celery stick
6–7 peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
bouquet garni (optional)
Place the chicken in a saucepan and cover it with water. If you have any meat left over, then
put that in too – you can always make chicken and sweetcorn soup with your broth and the
boiled chicken meat. This also goes for any bits left on the legs or wings.
Add the other ingredients and a bouquet garni if you have one, but this is not essential for
making basic stock. Put everything in the pan and bring to a gentle simmer. When you see a
foam forming on the top, just before simmering point, remove it with a spoon into a mug and
keep going until the scum is almost gone (you won’t get it all but you should be able to remove
most of it).
Cover the broth and simmer on a low heat for 1 hour. Allow to cool a little then strain into a
suitable container, retaining the onion, carrot and celery if you wish.
*taken from the book ‘From Seed to plate’ by Paolo Arrigo, published by Simon and Schuster