CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP WITH VEGGIE WONTONS

So we have had a very sick household this past week and its been hell. I haven't had the energy to go out into the garden but it seems to be doing well without me. I picked some Red Silverbeet, Shallots a leek and some Dill and thought whats the best thing we need right now....SOUP! Chicken soup to be exact but I find its always a bit boring and Blah, but if I made some Wontons (which my kids looove) and chuck in some noodle maybe I could get them to eat it.
Well they did and with second helpings, YAY!! So this will definitely be my Chicken soup from now on...

WHATS IN IT

SOUP
1.8kg              Whole Chicken
4 litres            Water
1                     Brown onion, chopped coarsely
2                     Celery sticks, chopped coarsely
2                     Carrots, chopped coarsely
2 cloves          Garlic, smashed and chopped
2                     Bay leaves
10                   Peppercorns
2tblsp             Fish sauce
100g               Silverbeet or Spinach, chopped
250g               Noodle ( I used a rice noodle but you could use anything you like, even pasta)
2tblsp             Parsley, chopped
2tblsp             Dill, chopped

WONTONS
1                    Leek, white part only, sliced
250g              Mushrooms, sliced
2cm piece     Ginger, grated
1 clove          Garlic, minced
1tblsp            Fish sauce
2tblsp            Sesame oil

WHAT TO DO

Place the chicken and water into a large soup pot with the onion, celery, carrot, garlic,bay leaves and peppercorns and bring to the boil.
Simmer uncovered for around 1 1/2 hours, occasionally skimming fat from the surface.
Gently remove chicken and strain stock through a muslin lined strainer into a large bowl.
When chicken is cool enough to work with, remove and discard skin and bones and pull the meat so its shredded or you can chop it, whatever you prefer.
Return the chicken to the pot with the reserved broth and vegetables removing the bay leaves. At this stage you could add more veggies if you like, simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes while you make the wontons.
For the wontons, heat oil in a frying pan or wok and add leek, mushrooms,garlic and ginger and fry until mushrooms are soft. Add fish sauce, fry for another 5 minutes then remove from heat.
Place wonton wrappers on a flat surface a spoon 1 tblsp of wonton mixture in the middle of the wrapper. Using your finger, dip it in some water and brush half of one edge and fold to seal squeezing edges together,  continue with the rest of the wrappers.
Add wontons to the soup slowly so they don't break with the fish sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.
Make noodles to the packet directions and blanch the silverbeet.
Divide noodles between 4 bowls and ladle soup over noodles making sure every plate has even wontons. Place silverbeet or spinach into the bowl then sprinkle with parsley and dill.

I made this for four people with second helpings and we had about 5 wontons each but it is entirely up to you. The wrappers I used were double merinos pastry gow gee and have about 40 wrappers. They will keep in the fridge after opening as long as they are securely wrapped. You can find them at Coles and Woolworths if you don't have a local Asian supermarket close by.