Potato Dumpling Soup

Soup:

1. Make stock: Place the chicken legs in a large soup pot and add cold water to cover it, about 2 ½ – 3 liter/ 10.5 – 12.5 cups. Clean and halve the carrots, celeriac piece, and onion. Add them to the pot. Add the whole garlic cloves, all the spices, and some salt.Slowly bring everything to a simmer, turn the heat down immediately and simmer, uncovered, for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until the chicken is cooked through and soft.
2. Strain: Remove the chicken legs from the soup and leave until cool enough to handle. Strain the broth into a clean soup pot and keep the carrots. Discard the rest of the vegetables and spices.
3. Cook vegetables: Chop the pepper into small cubes, divide the cauliflower into small florets and add them to the strained chicken broth. Bring to a boil and cook them gently until half cooked, about 5 minutes.
4. Tip: Chicken broth cooked for a short time is not as intensively flavored as chicken stock, which is cooked for about 4-5 hours. Add some chicken stock cubes to the broth to intensify the flavor.

Potato dumplings:

1. Cook potatoes: Peel, cube, and cook the potatoes. Drain. Mash in a bowl with a fork.
2. Dough: Let cool for about 5 minutes, add the lightly beaten egg, soft butter, about 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ ¾ cup of the flour, a few good gratings of nutmeg, and salt.
3. Cook: Start adding the potato dumplings to the soup using a teaspoon. Make only one dumpling at first. Dip the teaspoon into the soup and take a small amount (about ¾ teaspoon) out of the potato mixture. Let it slide into the soup and watch if it holds its shape. Give it about 3-4 minutes. If it disintegrates, add a minimal amount of extra flour and incorporate it well. Try again.
4. Tip: The exact amount of flour needed depends on the size of your egg.

Finish the soup:

1. Simmer: Add the defrosted peas to the soup together with the dumplings. Let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the dumplings are puffed up and cooked through. Do not let the soup boil anymore while the dumplings are in it.
2. Shred chicken: In the meantime, remove the skin and the bones of the chicken and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.
3. Finish soup: Chop the reserved carrots into cubes or slices. Add them to the soup and let the soup stand (heat off) for about 10 minutes more so that the chicken and the carrots can get hot again. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper, sprinkle the soup with some chopped parsley, and serve.