chilli chicken & apricot soup

The mild autumn weather has given way to low temperatures and harsh, windy showers here in Sunny Wales. There is nothing like a steaming bowl of hearty soup to take the edge off the blistering cold! I have here the recipe for a lovely warming soup that I love to tuck into during the winter months. Fresh chillis, dried apricots, and sweetcorn in a rich tomato sauce makes this an unusual twist on the age-old (and still delicious) chicken broth. I love this dish with a crusty wholemeal roll.

Serves 2 (main meal) or 4 (as a starter)
2 chicken breasts
2 small chilli peppers (I enjoy it hot, just adjust this measurement to taste)
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
5 dried apricots
100g/1 cup of sweetcorn (canned or frozen)
700ml water
1 tsp cumin power
1/2 tsp black pepper
Salt, to taste
Some vegetable oil for frying-approximately 1 tablespoon

1. Place the water and chicken on a medium heat and let it gently boil until chicken is cooked (around 10 minutes). Avoid over-cooking the chicken as breast-meat tends to get stringy and tough. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, garlic cloves, and chilli peppers. Chop the dried apricots into approximately 1cm chunks.
2. Take the chicken out of the water, and drain on kitchen towels. Skim off any scum and oil from the cooking water with a spoon, pass through a seive and reserve (this will serve as your chicken stock for the soup). Chop the chicken into 1cm chunks (similar to the dried apricots) and set aside.
3. Fry the onions, garlic and chillis with the vegetable oil over a medium heat until the onions are transparent (try not to colour them). Add the sweetcorn and chopped apricots and fry for another minute.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, stock water, cumin powder and black pepper to the pan; cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. You can do some washing up, set the table etc…
5. Pop open the pan lid and taste (remember this is a boiling tomato sauce it will splatter and WILL burn), add salt. Finally place the chicken in the pan, allow the soup to return to a boil for 5 minutes.

This soup keeps for a few days in the fridge, so you can make it in advance and reheat it before serving.