Swiss Minestrone

First bring the pearl barley to the boil in plenty of light salted water and finish cooking on a low heat for about 40 minutes.

Peel the onion, cut in half and cut into strips. Core the peppers, remove the partitions and cut into bite-sized pieces. Peel the celery (like rhubarb) and cut into small slices. Cut off the fine greens from the fennel bulb and set aside, halve and cut the stalk out, then cut into fine strips. Also cut off the fine green from the kohlrabi and set aside. Peel and dice the fruit. Peel the potato and dice it too. Peel the carrot and cut into small pieces. Cut the fine green of the fennel and kohlrabi into small pieces.

Heat the butter lard and fry the pork belly, then add the onions and let them sear for a moment. Now add the rest of the vegetables (possibly some more clarified butter) and let everything go well. Deglaze with the hot vegetable stock, season with salt & pepper and cook the vegetables on a low heat until they are nice and soft, but they should still have a bit of "bite".

In the meantime the pearl barley should be almost ready .... we now pour it off over a sieve, rinse it briefly with hot water and then put it in the soup pot together with the peppers and the "fine green".

We fry the rest of the bacon in a frying pan.

Now season the soup again with the spices to taste.

Put the finished soup in a soup cup, sprinkle with the diced bacon and cheese and now ..... enjoy your meal .....

Basic recipe for my "grainy vegetable broth"