Vegetable and Barley Soup

How to Make Vegetable and Barley Soup Recipe - preparation 20 minutes cooking time 1 hour 20 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:
50g/2oz/4 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, thinly sliced
3 carrots, cubed
½ small swede (rutabaga), cubed
1 parsnip, cubed
1.3 litres/2¼ pints/5½ cups hot vegetable stock
40g/1½oz/¼ cup pearl barley
salt and ground black pepper
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method:
1 Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat. Add the onion and the white leek slices (reserve the green slices) and cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir in the carrots, swede and parsnip, cover the pan and cook gently for 5 minutes.

2 Pour in the hot stock, add the barley and seasoning, and then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 1 hour until the barley is tender.

3 Add the green leek slices and cook for 5 minutes.

4 Check the seasoning. Cool and freeze, or sprinkle the hot soup with parsley, ladle into bowls and serve.

Vegetable and Barley Soup