Chaotically Me

In an attempt to save on our gas bill we’ve been braving 13 degrees inside the house without turning the central heating on.  To be honest we’ve just been big babies in the past but I do love to snuggle up to a warm radiator as I mosey on by.

Anywho!  With a bit of a chill in the air I thought it was the perfect time to crack out a hearty vegetable soup to warm the hands and more importantly our tummies.

Winter Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• 1.5 Litres (6 cups) of Vegetable or Chicken Stock
• 100g (1/2 cup) of Pearl Barley
• 2 whole leeks, trimmed and washed (You can replace one of the leeks with a large onion, diced)
• 2 celery sticks
• 2 large carrots, peeled
• 1 parsnip, peeled
• 1 potato, washed
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 5 Tablespoons of white wine
• 2 Bay leaves
• 2 Tablespoons of Tomato Puree (Paste)
• 1 can of Cannellini or Butter Beans, drained and rinsed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Chopped parsley to serve (optional)

 

1/  In a medium sized pan place your stock and  pearl barley.  Bring to the boil and leave to gently simmer whilst you prepare your vegetables

2/  Dice the leek, celery, potato, carrots and parsnips into small pieces

3/  In a large saucepan place the wine, the leeks and the crushed garlic.  Bring to a simmer and cover for 5 minutes stirring occasionally to make sure the leeks don’t stick to the bottom

4/  Add the rest of the vegetables to the leeks and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally

5/  Pour the stock and pearl barley over the vegetables and add the tomato puree and bay leaves

6/  Stir to combine before bringing your soup to the boil and allowing to simmer for 25 minutes

7/  Taste and season your soup with salt and pepper if you like (I like it heavy on the cracked black pepper!) and serve with crusty bread

I made Petra’s heavenly soft garlic knots to go with our soup (they were to die for!) so head over there for her recipe.

*Soup Recipe is adapted from the recipe here.