← Nouns Cooking · Soup Pot

Ingredients

• 30 g Butter
• 150 g speck or smoked bacon, finely diced
• 1 Onion, finely diced
• 1 Leek, finely diced
• 2 Carrot, finely diced
• 200 g Celeriac (celery root), finely diced
• 100 g Pearl barley, rinsed
• 1.5 l beef or vegetable stock
• 80 g air-dried beef (Bündnerfleisch) or smoked ham, cut into strips
• 150 g savoy cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 Potato, peeled and diced
• 100 ml Double (heavy) cream
• 2 tbsp Chives, snipped
• Salt
• White pepper

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the speck and cook for 3 min, until it starts to render its fat.
2. Add the onion, leek, carrot and celeriac and sweat for 5 min, stirring, until they soften but do not brown.
3. Stir in the barley for 1 minute so it is coated in the fat, then pour in the stock and add the dried beef or ham. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently for 45 min.
4. Add the cabbage and potato and simmer for 20 min more, until the barley is plump and soft and the potato tender.
5. Stir in the cream, season with salt and white pepper and heat through without boiling. Serve sprinkled with chives.

Tips

• Soaking the barley overnight shortens the cooking and gives a creamier soup.
• Leave out the meat and use vegetable stock for a meat-free version; barley contains gluten. Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate within 2 hours and reheat until piping hot.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Helvetic Kitchen Swiss Family Fun Be Inspired