Beef and Barley Soup

I wasn’t really sure what I was going for when I started to make this beef and barley soup, but I have to admit it was pretty delicious!  I was going for something a little thicker rather than too much broth – though I am not sure what the traditional beef and barley soup is meant to be.

For this recipe I was basically just winging it!  I decided what should go into the soup along the way and hoped for the best!

Since I wasn’t quite sure what I was going for the pot of soup I made with this recipe wasn’t too large.  If you decide to make this for a family dinner or plan to eat all week, you may want to double the recipe and make a larger pot (I know I will be next time!)

I started by prepping vegetables and meat I wanted to add to the soup.  First I cooked ground beef on the stove in a separate frying pan with salt and pepper.  While the meat cooked I chopped carrots, celery and onion in a mini chopper into finely chopped pieces.

Then in a large pot I sautéed finely chopped onion and minced garlic in olive oil.  Once onion and garlic were tender, I added beef broth and some chicken broth and then added chopped vegetables.  Since I wanted the consistency to be a bit thicker I added tomato paste as well. I added the barley to the soup and let it cook with the vegetables.  And of course I added salt and pepper!  I didn’t add cooked chopped meat until the barley was pretty much done, because I didn’t want it to be overcooked.

Once all ingredients were added I let the soup cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes, trying it every so often!  Making sure vegetables were cooked until softened and that barley was cooked through all the way.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ onion
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 4 large carrots
• 4 celery stalks
• ½ cup barley
• ½ – 1 lb ground beef
• 32 oz beef broth
• 16 oz chicken broth
• 6 oz tomato paste
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook ground beef in a large frying pan over medium heat until cooked through.
2. Chop onion, carrots and celery into finely chopped pieces.
3. In a large pot, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until tender.
4. Add beef broth, half of chicken broth, celery, carrots, barley and tomato paste (not quite the whole can).  Salt and pepper, to taste.
5. Let soup cook until paste thickens and barley is tender – about 30 mins.
6. Add chicken broth if soup gets too thick – I add as I go.

The great thing about this soup is that you can add as many veggies or as much beef as you want!  The beef broth, chicken broth and tomato paste used here gave me the perfect consistency!