Russian porcini mushroom soup with pearl barley and dill

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 ml vegetable stock
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 40 g porcini mushrooms, dried
• 250 g porcini mushrooms, fresh
• 300 g potatoes
• 50 g pearl barley
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 bunch of dill
• 1 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 50 minutes

vegetarian

Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in lukewarm water for half an hour, then rinse them in a sieve with water. Discard the soaking water. Then boil the soaked mushrooms in the vegetable broth for 20 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and chop finely. Set aside. Rinse the pearl barley in a sieve with cold water and then let it soak in a separate pot with boiled salted water over low heat for 20 minutes. Set aside. Peel and finely dice the potatoes, then boil them in a separate pot in salted water for 8-10 minutes and then drain. Set aside. Clean and slice the fresh porcini mushrooms. Heat the butter in a pan and lightly fry the diced onion and fresh porcini mushrooms. Add all the ingredients – pearl barley, potatoes, onions, fresh and chopped porcini mushrooms – to the pot with the vegetable broth and let the soup simmer for another 5 minutes over high heat. Season with a little salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper. Serve hot with a generous tablespoon of sour cream and freshly chopped dill.