1/2 cup pearl barley
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled & diced
1 celery stalk, diced
3/4 pound mixed mushrooms (crimini, shiitake, white, portobello, whatever)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tb fresh thyme, minced (I used about 1/2 tsp dried)
1 bay leaf
5-6 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken)
Place barley in small saucepan with 1 cup water. Bring to simmer, cover & cook until barley has absorbed all liquid (about 15 minutes for me). Turn off & set aside.
Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium heat. When hot add onion, celery & carrot. Cook, stirring often for about 4-5 minutes or until veggies start to soften around edges. Add mushrooms & continue cooking until mushrooms begin to wilt down & release their juices (4-5 minutes more). Add garlic & stir. Add thyme, bay leaf & 5 cups stock, plus some pepper if desired. Bring to simmer & cook over medium heat about 20 minutes or until veggies are tender & soup is well flavored. Add barley (& the last cup of stock if soup seems too thick). Bring back to simmer & season to taste with salt & pepper.
They recommend making the soup the night before or morning of & letting it sit because the sitting time lets the flavors develop. I just had some of the soup for lunch today and I think it actually tasted even better than last night, it gets thicker and a bit creamier with sitting and being reheated. This recipe serves 2-4 so I doubled it since I made it for 6 people & we had leftovers (but I tend to be generous on my measurements on veggies for soups). Then again even though they really liked the soup no one had seconds because the cheese & bread were so yummy!
I am not much into taking pictures of food, so imagine a soup bowl with pieces of mushrooms, barley, onion, carrot, etc in a light colored broth and you have a good enough picture :)
* I will post more about my Book Club (including a list of books) over the next few weeks.
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