Days are getting shorter, the weather is cooling, and soup is simmering. Shan and I aren’t quite ready for summer to be over, but we’re embracing fall with open (sweater covered) arms. Soup season is upon us, and we couldn’t be more excited! Shan has been warning me of a rising urge to make some hearty soup, so it was no surprise when I heard faint chopping, and found her in the kitchen, huddled over the cutting board prepping Mirepoix. It was just past lunch and my hunger pangs were setting in, so I got to work helping out. Although we had limited groceries on hand, we settled on a Tuscan-inspired soup, using up leftover veggies from the Farmers’ Market, a bag of barley buried in the cupboard, and some turkey sausage from the freezer.
Although we had no intentions of putting this on the blog, the soup turned out so good we had to share it.
- 3 medium carrots (sliced)
- 2 stalks of celery (sliced)
- ½ large white onion (diced)
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup of sliced turkey sausage or turkey meatballs
- 8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 cups cooked pearl barley
- 2 tbsp chives (chopped)
- 1 tbsp fresh basil (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley (finely chopped)
- ½ tbsp fresh sage (finely chopped)
- 1 pinch of chili powder
- 8 asparagus spears (chopped) *optional
- 3 leaves of kale (stalk removed and chopped)
- Salt & pepper
- In a small pot, add 1 cup of uncooked pearl barley to 2.5 cups of water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a light simmer, cover with lid and cook for about 45 minutes until water is absorbed. In a strainer, rinse cooked barley under cold water, removing any excess starches.
- In a large pot on medium-high heat, add olive oil.
- Once heated, add onion, sweating down for about 3-5 minutes.
- Add carrot and celery, continuing to cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add cherry tomatoes and turkey sausage.
- Continue to cook for about 8 minutes, until carrots and celery begin to soften, and cherry tomatoes begin cooking down.
- Add herbs, cooking for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add stock, and bring to a boil.
- Let soup simmer for 10 minutes, add barley, and continue simmering for another 10 minutes, adjusting flavour as needed (feel free to add more herbs and pepper at this time, but leave salt until the very end).
- Add asparagus, kale, a pinch of chili powder, and salt to taste.
- Cook for another 5 minutes, then serve.
Now that soup is taken care of, all that’s left to do is settle into a warm sweater and embrace the joys of fall.
Bob
This look amazing. Yum.
Thanks Ai Ping!