Chicken soup with Spanish paprika and sweet potato

Directions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a heavy large pot. Season chicken pieces with salt and brown them, in batches so as not to crowd the pan. Set chicken aside.
2. While you’re browning the chicken, chop the onion, carrot, and celery into a small dice. After you’ve set the chicken aside, add the remaining two tablespoons oil to the pot and then add the diced vegetables. Sauté them, with a bit of salt, until they are fully softened, slightly browned, and have halved in volume.
3. Mince the garlic (or crush in a garlic press) and add to the pot. Add the paprika as well, and sauté for a further 2-3 minutes, until the garlic is very fragrant.
4. Pour in the broth and bring to a simmer. Taste for seasoning at this point, and add more salt if the broth is at all bland.
5. Add the chicken pieces, and a bit of water if they aren’t covered by liquid. Increase the heat to high and bring to nearly a boil, then turn the heat down low. Simmer, partially covered with a lid, for an hour.
6. Meanwhile, peel and chop sweet potatoes into bite size pieces, and chop the bell peppers into similar size pieces.
7. After simmering for an hour, remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool. Add the sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and spinach, and simmer until the sweet potato is very soft (all the better if any pieces fall apart - they add flavour and body to the broth!)
8. Take the chicken meat off the bones, roughly chop it, and add it back to the pot. Discard the bones and skin.
9. Season to taste with salt if necessary, and enjoy!