Herbaceous Seasonal Vegetable Broth with Chickpea Flour Dumplings

Make The Dumplings

• Whisk together the gram flour and baking powder in a bowl. Beat the eggs in a large bowl with the fat, dill, salt and pepper. Slowly stir in your gram flour bit by bit until well blended to make a thick, sticky batter. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes covered with cling film
• Then, wet your hands with cold water and roll the dough into about twelve small balls (roughly 1 teaspoonful each) — or make them slightly bigger, if you like. Be warned – they double in size when cooked. If you find it hard to shape your dumplings, then chilling the batter for about 3 hours will help. Don’t worry if you can’t get the hang of shaping them, though, as you can simply take teaspoonfuls of the mixture and directly scrape them into the broth — they might not be the perfect shape but will be lovely and rustic.

• Pour the bone broth and water into a pot and bring to a boil then down to an energetic simmer
• Add the salt. Gently drop in the dumplings
• When they rise to the surface, turn the heat down to a simmer and cover the pan. Cook for 20—25 minutes, until the dumplings are cooked through and the centres are light
• Cut one open to check — if the centre is hard and dark, cook for another 3—5 minutes, until cooked through
• Then add your veggies (and shredded meat, if using) into the pot
• Simmer for a minute or two depending on what kind of vegetables you are using
• You want them to be cooked but with a slight crunch. Last add in your herbs and turn off the heat. Garnish with a generous lashing of extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper