Mushroom Barley Soup
Ingredients
- INGREDIENTS
- 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms soaked until soft in 1/2 cup hot water reserve water after soaking
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 1 shallot chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 ounces pancetta chopped
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 1/2 cup pearl barley
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
Instructions
- INSTRUCTIONS
- In a heavy stock pot add olive oil and saute pancetta until lightly browned.
- Add onions, carrots, celery and shallot and saute until soft (about 10 minutes).
- Add garlic and mushrooms and saute until mushrooms release some of their moisture.
- Remove the rehydrated porcini from the liquid (reserving liquid), chop, and then add to the vegetables in the pot along with the barley and mix to combine.
- Make a little space at the bottom of the pan and add the tomato paste, cooking for a minute or two to caramelize.
- Add the soy sauce and sherry and simmer vigorously until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.
- Then add the stocks and the reserved liquid from the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper.
- Simmer soup, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until barley is soft. Add chopped parsley just before serving.
