Until last week, I was saying rather smugly how I’d survived an interminable period of kidlet illness without getting so much as a sniffle…then it all went rather pear-shaped.

Thank goodness for Neil Perry and his Chicken, Leek and Pasta Soup…delicious, simple and clean tasting…just what the doctor ordered. And the fact that it’s incredibly low in calories made me feel slightly better about the fact I couldn’t do anything more strenuous than croak orders to my lovely husband…

Even if you’re not sick, give this soup a go – it’s perfect rainy day fare.

Serves 4: 195 calories per serve

what you need

200g chicken breasts

100g orzo or risoni (I substituted small circular pasta)

Olive oil spray

2 leeks, white part only, washed and finely sliced into rounds

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

sea salt

1 litre chicken stock

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1 fresh bay leaf

2 flat-leaf parsley sprigs, roughly chopped

freshly ground black pepper

what to do

Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil. Turn off heat.

Add a couple of whole cloves of garlic, some whole black peppercorns and some parsley stalks to the water and allow to infuse for 10 minutes with the lid on. Add the chicken breasts to the water and allow them to poach for two hours (yes, that’s right, with the heat off.)

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Set aside.

Remove the chicken from the water and cut into 1cm thick slices.

Spray a large heavy-based pan with olive oil spray and sweat the leek, garlic and a little sea salt until soft. Do not brown the leek. Add the chicken stock, lemon zest and juice and the bay leaf.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the broth to a simmer and gently cook for 10 minutes. Check the seasoning, then add the sliced chicken and pasta and stir to heat through.

Divide the soup among four soup bowls and add the chopped parsley and some freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with a little lemon zest.

NOTE: This recipe is taken from Neil Perry’s “The Food I Love“. It is, hands down, my favourite cook book (and I have quite a few!) Make it one of your kitchen staples…