This broth recipe has the familiarity of a delicious scotch broth, but puts seasonal winter vegetables at its heart. Borough Broth Co’s lamb broth is the backbone of this soup, and the pearl barley swells with all its delicious flavour; it feels very nourishing and comforting.
Serves: 2 people
Time: 10 minutes prep + 25 minutes to cook
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 brown onion
1 small/medium leek
2 stalks celery
1 carrot
½ small swede
½ cup pearl barley (110g), soaked overnight
½ teaspoon sea salt
16 sprigs of thyme
to serve:
Some sliced chorizo, optional
Crème fraiche/yogurt
Rose harissa paste
Pomegranate molasses
Pinch of sea salt
Method
Soak the pearl barely in water overnight.
Finely dice the onion; finely slice the leek and celery; prep the carrot and swede into even dice; strip the thyme leaves from its stalks.
Heat the olive oil in a casserole dish or large saucepan.
Gently sauté the onion, celery and thyme leaves for 8 minutes, until they become soft and translucent.
Add the carrot, swede, leek, pearl barley and sea salt.
Pour over the lamb broth and bring to a gentle simmer.
Keep the lid half on half off and continue to simmer slowly for 24 minutes, or until the pearl barley is swollen and soft. (You can remove the lid for the last 5 minutes of cooking to help concentrate the flavour).
I love some crispy fried chorizo as a topping here. Simply fry in a dry pan until starting to crisp.
If you fancy a dollop of harissa yogurt on top (and I highly recommend!) simply mix one teaspoon of harissa with 1 tablespoon of thick natural or Greek yogurt, and a tiny drizzle of pomegranate molasses if you have, per person. Chopped parsley makes a lovely final flourish!
