Barley Minestrone With Pesto

Name: Barley Minestrone With Pesto
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 4 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1/2 cup pearl barley (soaded for 4 hours and drained); 1 1/2 cups green cabbage, roughly chopped; 1 onion, diced; 1 carrot, diced; 1 stalk celery, diced; 1 zucchini, diced; 4 tomatoes, seeded and diced; 1 baking potato, peeled and diced; 1/2 cup frozen fava beans (or substitute green peas or baby limas); 1 garlic clove, crushed; 4 cups vegetable stock (or chicken); fresh ground black pepper; 1/2-1 cup fresh basil leaf; 2 garlic cloves, crushed

Submitted by DailyInspiration

"A nice, hearty soup with barley, veggies and some basil/garlic pesto. You can vary the vegetables as you wish. This soup would be delicious with some crusty bread and a salad. Prep time does not include soaking time for barley."

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photo by JustJanS

Ready In:: 1hr 15mins
Ingredients:: 14
Serves:: 4

ingredients

¹⁄₂ cup pearl barley (soaded for 4 hours and drained)
1 ¹⁄₂ cups green cabbage, roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 zucchini, diced
4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 baking potato, peeled and diced
¹⁄₂ cup frozen fava beans (or substitute green peas or baby limas)
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 cups vegetable stock (or chicken)
fresh ground black pepper
For the pesto
¹⁄₂ - 1 cup fresh basil leaf
2 garlic cloves, crushed

directions

Place the barley in a pan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Cook for 25-30 minutes until tender; then drain.
In a large pot, combine all vegetables with the stock and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are just tender.
To make pesto, place the basil and garlic in a blender; add 1/2 cup of the vegetable cooking liquid and blitz to a smooth puree.
Add the puree to the soup, stir until combined, then add the cooked barley. Season with black pepper and serve.

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Reviews

What a nice soup and you can make it in a flash. I had not soaked my barley so I just rinsed it and put it in the rice cooker to cook while I did the prep of the rest of the ingredients. I did saute the hard veggies for a few minutes in just a splash of olive oil, I think that really enhances the flavor of the vegetables. I also added a bay leaf as I think all vegetable soups benefit from bay. I would not use cabbage again, I did not care for it. I would rather add some spinach. Barley is such a great grain and it works very nicely with the rest. This soup is vegan but I am not so I used some pesto I had which was made with cheese and also topped the soup with big curls of shaved parmesan as a garnish.

duonyte
We really enjoyed this thanks and it filled my family up. The pesto really make it for us.

Jewelies
Another winner thanks Nancy! I made this for our lunch and we both thoroughly enjoyed it and could feel it doing us good! I made a couple of little changes-used a can of whole tomatoes (which I diced) and three tablespoons of Recipe #452861 to use it up. Otherwise I stuck to the very simple recipe. Thanks for posting, I'll be making this one again.

JustJanS