Graubünden barley soup

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 200 g bacon or ham, diced
• 2 onions
• 4 cloves
• 1 large bay leaf or 2 smaller leaves
• 130 g pearl barley
• 1 dl white wine
• 2 ½ liters of water
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• 500 g soup vegetables (small leek, two carrots, piece of celery)
• 400 g potatoes
• 150 g parsley root(s)
• 1 can kidney beans
• 2 tbsp cream (optional)
• some nutmeg
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Swiss pearl barley soup, a classic recipe for cold days

Peel the onions. Halve one and fry briefly on the cut side until dark, then use the cloves to stick the bay leaf onto the onion halves. Chop the other onion and fry it with the bacon cubes. Add the pearl barley and fry until translucent. Deglaze with the white wine and simmer briefly. Top up with water, add the onion halves and the stock cubes. Wash, peel, and cut all the vegetables into bite-sized cubes. Add them to the soup along with the drained kidney beans, then simmer for 2-3 hours. Finally, season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Opinions differ on the cream, so try the soup without cream first! The soup is perfect if it rests for a while and then reheats. As a variation, the soup can also be made with Bündnerfleisch (dried meat) instead of bacon, or with 100g bacon and 300g diced soup meat. Since the soup tastes even better when reheated, it’s also perfect for freezing!