Barley soup: the recipe for the tasty and genuine Trentino soup

The barley soup or Gerstensuppe is a healthy and genuine first course typical of Trentino Alto Adige based on pearl barley, vegetables and smoked bacon, a tasty dish ideal for the winter to be enjoyed warm. It is a hearty dish that can also be eaten as a single dish. The barley is cooked with the addition of meat broth, after having fried onion, bacon, carrot, celery, and after adding the potato, the minestrone must then cook for about 45 minutes, or until the barley is completely cooked. , before being served with chopped chives and enjoyed hot. Here’s how to prepare it.

FOR 4 PEOPLE
Ready in: 1H
Calories in the recipe: kcal 880

INGREDIENTS

PEARL BARLEY 150 gr
SPECK OR BACON 100 gr
CARROT 1 • 21 kcal
POTATOES 1 • 750 kcal
ONION 1 • 21 kcal
CELERY 1 costs • 21 kcal
MEAT STOCK 1 litre • 43 kcal
BUTTER 40 gr • 380 kcal
EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL as needed • 901 kcal
SEA SALT as required • 286 kcal
BLACK PEPPER as required • 79 kcal
CHION GRASS as required • 30 kcal
LAUREL 1 leaf
The calories refer to 100 grams of the product

How to make barley soup

Prepare the meat broth you will need to cook the soup. In a pan, melt the butter, add the chopped onion, let it dry and add the cubes of bacon or speck. (1) Then add the carrot and celery cut into small pieces, fry for 5-10 minutes (2) and also add the diced potato. Wash the barley under running water, drain it and add it to the other ingredients, along with 4 ladles of broth and a bay leaf. Cook for 40-45 minutes, or until the barley is cooked, adding more broth if necessary. Almost when cooked, add the oil, salt, pepper and chopped chives. Your barley soup is ready to be served on the table. (3)

Advice

You can also avoid using butter: the bacon or bacon fat, melting with the heat, will act as a condiment.

To flavour the barley soup you can also use a ham bone or pork shank instead of bacon or bacon.

Those who prefer can serve the barley soup with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.

To flavour the soup you can use thyme instead of laurel and parsley instead of chives.

If you don’t have time to prepare the meat broth, use boiling water for cooking or a broth prepared with the cube.

Variants

If you prefer, you can prepare a vegetarian variant: barley and vegetable soup, eliminating the bacon and speck and using seasonal vegetables such as peas or broad beans in spring and pumpkin, cabbage, black cabbage, mushrooms in winter, to always add to the carrot. celery, onion, leek and potato. The instructions are the same as in our recipe, you just have to use the vegetable broth instead of the meat broth and add your favourite vegetables.

How to store barley soup

You can keep the barley soup in the fridge for 2 days in an airtight container.

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