Autumn and Winter
Soups

Mushroom and Barley Soup Recipe

Mushroom lovers will rejoice at the sight of this hearty mushroom soup. It's got it all: porcini, shitake, Swiss brown and field mushrooms.
Mushroom and Barley Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Units
Units
1 cup (200g) pearl barley
1.5L water
20g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked overnight in 500ml hot water
40g unsalted butter
1 large brown onion, finely chipped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbspn fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped and chopped
1 tbspn sea salt
1/3 cup (80ml) sherry
100g fresh shitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
200g swiss brown mushrooms, roughly chopped
200g field mushrooms, roughly chopped
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Methods
Prep time: 20 mins / Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins.
METHOD
1
Place the barley into a medium size pot, add the water, and place over high heat. Bring to the boil then reduce to a rapid simmer for an hour and then strain off the water and set aside.
2
Strain porcini mushrooms and finely chop, reserving liquid and set aside
3
In a large heavy based pot melt the butter and fry the onions over medium high heat until translucent. Add garlic, rosemary, thyme, and salt and cook for a further 3 minutes.
4
Add chopped porcini, pre-cooked barley, stock, reserved porcini liquid, and sherry to the onion mixture.
5
Place a large non stick frypan over high heat, add the extra virgin olive oil, once this is hot sauté off the mushrooms, seasoning with salt and add to the barley and stock.
6
Cook for approx 10 minutes and adjust seasoning with pepper if needed.
This Recipe Includes