We had this barley and lentil soup for lunch today. And here I am, the recipe is ready!
It’s raining today. Actually, it was raining yesterday too, and the day before. With this gray weather, I absolutely need comfort food. And what could be better than a warm bowl of soup?
Moreover, this barley and lentil soup doesn’t require soaking or long cooking times. From the moment I decided what to cook to the moment I turned off the burner, it took exactly just 35 minutes!
👇 Try these other soups too! 👇
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups pearl barley
- 1 cup red lentils
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 potato (large)
- Half onion
- extra virgin olive oil
- rosemary
Tools
- Pot
- Peeler
- Knife
- Food Mill
Steps
Rinse the lentils well, changing the water a couple of times.
Bring a pot of water to a boil (I use already hot water to be quicker).
👉 As for the amount of water (which I didn’t measure in my hurry), I’d say… approximately a couple of liters. But adjust according to your taste: how do you prefer your soup? Thick or brothy? 🙂Rinse the barley (as suggested on the package) and add it to the boiling water.
Add the whole peeled carrot, the peeled potato cut in half, the half onion, and the celery stalk.
👉 If you don’t have celery, you can use a small zucchini or the stalks of a couple of fennels. Oh, didn’t you know? I mentioned it here, on the Tips and Tricks page. 😉
Also add a sprig of rosemary, which goes well with the lentils.
When the water boils, let it boil for about five minutes, then add the lentils.
👉 The cooking times on the packages were 25-30 minutes for the barley and 20 minutes for the lentils. Overall, I cooked everything for 25 minutes (so the lentils were ready in 20 minutes), but as you surely know, the cooking times on the packages are often just indicative because they depend on the quality and origin of the product, so adjust according to your taste and the type of lentils and barley you’ll use.
Once cooked, to achieve a thick soup, remove the vegetables, blend them separately with an immersion blender (or pass them through a food mill) and add them to the soup.
😉 However, this time I didn’t use them this way, because I want to use them for another preparation. Which I’ll tell you about. (Update: it’s the recipe for ricotta and vegetable balls, you can find it HERE!)
Finally, plate and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on each plate.
Serve this comforting barley and lentil soup very hot. 😋
Enjoy your meal!
Salt-Free Tips
Today I confess I added half a teaspoon of salt at the end of cooking. Removing the vegetables made this soup less dense but also more delicate, so I made this small exception to make it more appealing to my kids. Fortunately, my kids willingly eat lentils, but they’re not crazy about soups and broths, so… sometimes a compromise is needed. 😉
For those getting started with a low-sodium diet, soups and broths can require a small adjustment effort, due to the presence of water in the recipe. In these cases, I recommend:
– using vegetable broth instead of water for cooking (homemade without salt, or with little salt, reducing it gradually each time),
– adding at the end of cooking a mixture of garlic and rosemary (as in this soup).
For more information, refer to my article Cooking Without Salt. Or, more briefly, try applying these little tips! 😊
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Gradually reduce the salt, the palate must slowly get used to it and should not notice the progressive 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 granules and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (griddle, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the saltshaker to the table!
▫ Occasionally treat yourself to a little indulgence. It’s good for the mood and helps maintain perseverance.
If you can’t, or don’t want to, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes, salting according to your habits.
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