1kg chicken wings or drumsticks or a mixture, plus a leftover chicken carcass if you happen to have one
2 sticks of celery, chopped
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, 2 roughly chopped, one peeled and more finely chopped and kept separate
3 leeks, 2 roughly chopped, 1 more finely chopped and kept separate
Small bunch of parsley, separated into stalks and leaves
750ml chicken stock, cold
200g barley, cooked
1. Put the chicken in a large pan and just cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and skim off the scum from the top – this is important, as it will give the finished soup a greasy, unpleasant flavour.
2. Add the celery, onions (if they're clean, there's no need to peel these), the roughly chopped carrots and leeks, the parsley stalks and the stock. Season with pepper. Simmer gently for about 2 hours.
3. Strain the soup through a fine sieve – you can pick the meat off the bones to add to the soup if you wish, although it may be rather tough. Return the soup to the pan, add the remaining finely chopped carrot and leek and cook for 10 minutes until these are soft.
4. Stir through the cooked barley, season to taste, and serve with the chopped parsley leaves on top.