Vegetable Barley Soup
Serves: 3 to 4
An easy and delicious recipe for Vegetable Barley Soup with step-by-step photos. It is a popular soup in the Swiss alps, called Gerstensuppe in German. The pearl barley thickens the soup as it cooks, making the soup quite substantial and comforting.
Ingredients
- 2 carrots
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 small brown onion
- 2 large potatoes
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-2 sprigs thyme
- 100 g (3 ½ oz) pearl barley
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch ground mace
- 1 ½ litres (6 cups) chicken stock, or vegetable stock
- flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- croûtons, for serving
Instructions
- Finely dice the carrots, celery, and onion.
- Peel and chop the potatoes into large chunks.
- In a large saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat.
- Gently sauté the carrots, celery, and onions, together with the bay leaf and thyme. Cook until the vegetables have softened slightly.
- Stir through the potatoes and pearl barley.
- Add the ground coriander, cayenne pepper, and ground mace.
- Add the stock.
- Simmer gently for about 30 minutes, or until the pearl barley is very soft and the potatoes are cooked.
- Taste for seasoning, and add some sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.
- Serve with chopped parsely and croûtons.
Kitchen Notes
- The original recipe calls for parsnips instead of potatoes. Use whichever is available to you, but potatoes will make this soup a little bit more filling.
- To make the croûtons, simply slice some stale bread into 2cm (1 inch) cubes. Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and fry the bread, turning them frequently so that all sides become golden and crisp. The croûtons hardly take any time to cook so don't leave the pan unattended as they can burn very quickly.
- RECIPE CREDIT
Recipe adapted from River Cottage Veg Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.