Supă cu găluște (Semolina dumpling soup) (Romanian)

This is one of the most common soups in Romanian kitchens, and most of my childhood it was my absolute favorite thing from my mom's food rotations. 
Large pieces of chicken and vegetables are boiled in a broth for an hour or so until the liquid becomes very flavorful, and then the solids are removed and reserved for another use (in our home, the chicken pieces would then get fried in a pan and the result was much more flavorful then a simple fried chicken that skipped the veggie soaking; and the vegetables - mainly parsley root and parsnip and carrots - would get mashed with a little butter and served as a side for the fried chicken pieces). With only the clear soup remaining on the stove, large semolina-based dumplings are then added and softly boiled until just right. It's served hot and if you try it, it will be the best thing you've ever eaten. 
Making the dumplings can be a bit tricky - if the dough is too hard, the dumplings will be hard and chewy and not very good, but if you make it too soft they will disintegrate and form a mushy mass throughout the whole soup. It will still be tastier than the hard dumplings you would get in the first case, but definitely not too pretty. Luckily, you don't need to fret about getting it right, since you have my mom's recipe now :). 

P.S: A regular large deep plate of soup usually contains 4-5 large dumplings, but in the picture above there's only one because I used a small(er) bowl as a serving dish. I usually enjoyed adding croutons to the soup bowl after finishing the dumplings and my mom joked about it being my milk-and-cereal dish, since it tended to be a staple of mine. 

Last year: Ghanaian tomato and peanut soup (vegan).
Two years ago: Espresso and walnut iced brownies.
Three years ago: Simple coconut brownies.
Four years ago: Amaretto colada (cocktail), Easy home-made Raclette (French-Swiss) and Pasta with spicy mascarpone sauce, mushrooms and artichokes.



Ingredients (serves 4-6):

• 6-8 pieces of chicken (bone-in thighs and breast fillets)
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 parsley roots
• 1 parsnip
• 1 large celery wedge
• 2 potatoes
• 2,5 liters of water
• 1-2 tablespoons vegetable seasoning mix (like Vegeta), or to taste
• black pepper to taste (to serve)

For the dumplings ("găluște"):

• 2 eggs, whites and yolks separated
• 30-40 g wheat semolina
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
• pinch of salt 

First, make the soup. Put the chicken pieces in the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until a brownish foam rises to the surface, about 10-15 minutes. Remove it with a slotted spoon and discard.
Add the vegetables, peeled and cut into large pieces. Also add the seasoning mix and simmer for 15 minutes more or until both the meat and vegetables are tender and the soup is golden and delicious.

Remove the chicken and vegetables and reserve them for another use. Keep the soup simmering on the stove, just below the boiling point.
Mix the egg yolks with the butter and salt. Beat the egg whites until stiff with a hand blender. Gently mix the semolina and the yolks into the whipped egg whites. The soft dough resulting must have enough air incorporated in order to be fluffy.
Drop large spoonfuls of dough in the simmering soup and keep them boiling for at least 5-6 minutes. Be careful not to allow them to touch each other while they're still raw.

Laden the soup into serving bowls and add 2-3 dumplings per serving. Top with freshly ground pepper. It's done, dig in! :)