Cheat's Jewish Chicken, Kneidle, Lockshen and Kreplach Soup

Chicken soup should not just be eaten when you're ill. It is a low fat, quick, delicious meal which can be as substantial as you like - depending on how many accoutrements you decide to add. Here, I have added the classic lockshen (noodles) kneidles (dumplings) and kreplach (wontons/tortellini), but you can add a combination of any of these.

There is a cafe in north-west London which serves this soup exactly as I do here. Not a chicken in sight and as authentic as Jewish chicken soup should be. My mum, Mrs Ribeye Sr, would hate this soup - she thinks chicken soup should actually contain chicken. Whatever you do, don't add fresh carrots - the tinned variety are just perfect for this recipe.

Mrs Ribeye demands this soup on a Sunday night instead of a sandwich -and who am I to deny her? This winter staple comes in at an incredible £1.50 per serving.

You could bump up the cost a bit, and still stay under budget by adding some shredded, cooked chicken. But a chicken soup containing actual chicken would be complete sacrilege, regardless of what my mum says.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

4 tablespoons of Telma chicken soup powder, or 3 regular chicken stock cubes
400g tin of sliced carrots, drained and rinsed
1 litre of water
1 egg
75ml water
100g matzo meal or dried breadcrumbs
100g dried tagliatelli, or other noodles
100g dried beef tortellini
Pinch of black pepper, to serve

Mix the Telma or stock cubes with the litre of water in a large pan and add the carrots. Simmer on a low to moderate heat. Mix the egg, 75ml of water and matzo meal or breadcrumbs in a bowl and leave for 5 minutes to allow the gluten to develop. Roll the paste into golfball sized dumplings and plop them gently into the soup. Add the noodles and tortellini and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with crusty bread.