With the bad weather of this period, a comforting soup is a blessing, don’t you agree?
When I’m cold, I feel the physical need to eat restorative soups or broths, which must be nice and steaming hot to warm me up all the way to my belly. Ah, I saw you smile! Then you’re like me, the kind that loves comforting hot recipes!
Having read my mind, the legendary Daniela (our guiding spirit in the Team Light and Tasty 🤩) has planned the perfect topic for today, evocatively titled: “Warm Up!” I took her words literally and took the opportunity to dine with hot soups and broths practically every night for the whole week.
Among the various ones I cooked, I chose to write the recipe for this barley and vegetable soup today, a mix of vegetables with a pumpkin predominance. For me, it was truly a comforting soup: when I sat down at the table, I was freezing and as hungry as a wolf, and at that moment, every spoonful was truly restorative.
Moreover, it’s a very simple preparation, a vegetable soup similar to minestrone, with less variety of vegetables than the classic minestrone, and in large pieces, especially the pumpkin ones.
The beauty of this recipe is that you can use the vegetables you have at home, and it always turns out well. It’s also suitable for using up everything you can find in the vegetable drawer, whenever it’s convenient. Besides the pumpkin, I used a carrot, a piece of leek, the stalks of a fennel, and a mushroom, which was left there all alone for some unknown reason.
Then, the other beauty of this recipe is the barley: for me, in this type of soup, barley is perfect. I really love how it turns out in broth recipes, and luckily it’s also a favorite of my daughter. But… in case of need, for example, if others in the family turn up their noses (any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental 😄), it can be replaced with the timeless rice, which is also very suitable for this type of soup.
So, how’s the weather over there today? Is there still snow? Is it raining? Well, even if it’s sunny, I’m sure it’s cold enough for us all to enjoy a nice bowl of comforting barley and vegetable soup! 🥣
Have you prepared the ingredients? Then let’s get started!
〰〰〰
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz pearl barley
- 5.3 oz pumpkin (peeled)
- 5.3 oz mixed vegetables (carrot, fennel stalks, leek, mushrooms)
- 4.2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- rosemary
- sage
Tools
- High-sided saucepan with lid
How to Make Comforting Barley and Vegetable Soup
Slice the leek and cut the carrot and fennel into pieces.
Cook them for a few minutes with a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of water.
Add the pumpkin, cut into larger pieces.
👉 Pumpkin takes less time to cook than carrot and fennel, which is why I cut it into larger pieces.
Rinse the barley with water, then pour it into the saucepan.
Add hot vegetable broth until everything is covered.
Cook at a simmer, with the lid slightly open.
Add more vegetable broth every time it starts to dry out to keep the soup at the desired “brothy” level.
👉 I listed 1 liter of broth in the ingredients, but I estimated it; I didn’t check precisely how much broth I used. You can make this soup more or less thick, as you prefer.
Also add the aromatic herbs (rosemary and sage, but parsley and thyme are also good).
Halfway through the cooking, I added the mushroom, cut into small pieces.
👉 I decided to add it halfway through cooking, but you can certainly add it right away with the other vegetables. If you have more than one, add them, if I had more, I would have used them! 😊
Cook everything for about half an hour.
Serve immediately, nice and hot, adjusting with vegetable broth as desired according to the consistency you want to achieve.
For me, it’s ideally just brothy enough, that is, in broth but not too much or, to say it better, thick but not too much… you get it, right? 😃
Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. If you want, you can also add a sprinkle of freshly chopped herbs.
Salt-Free Tips
The topic of low-sodium cooking with broths is not always easy to tackle, because getting used to salt-free vegetable broth takes time and patience to ‘train’ the palate by gradually reducing salt. I do not recommend stopping salting the broth suddenly; a gradual process is required.
A trick to enhance flavor that I always tell you in soup recipes is to add a finely chopped mixture of rosemary and garlic at the end, just before serving.
Also, another trick is to prepare a slightly spiced vegetable broth, for example with turmeric as I told you in the recipe for salt-free vegetable bouillon.
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
– Reduce salt gradually, the palate must get used to it slowly and should not notice the gradual reduction.
– Use spices. Chili, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
– Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
– Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
– Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
– Use my salt-free vegetable bouillon
– Prefer fresh foods.
– Avoid boiling methods, prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (grill, en papillote, steam, microwave)
– Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
– Occasionally allow yourself to break the rule. It’s good for morale and helps to persevere.
If you do not want or cannot give up salt:
You can still try my recipes by salting according to your habits.
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As always, I leave you with other recipes from the Team Light and Tasty:
Carla Emilia: Cauliflower Cream with Beer
Daniela: Sweet Potato and Carrot Cream with Curry and Feta
Elena: Celeriac Soup with Potatoes and Pink Pepper
Milena: Rustic and Spiced Legume Cream with Mussels
Serena: Chickpea and Porcini Soup
Carla Emilia: Cauliflower Cream with Beer
Daniela: Sweet Potato and Carrot Cream with Curry and Feta
Elena: Celeriac Soup with Potatoes and Pink Pepper
Milena: Rustic and Spiced Legume Cream with Mussels
Serena: Chickpea and Porcini Soup
