ENOUGH

We made this soup on Sunday.

We made it again on Wednesday.

That's the definition of a keeper, right?

It has a little of everything, so little that I wondered whether it would amount to enough, the 35g of pearl barley looked particularly paltry. Yet somehow it all just comes together and becomes enough. Enough to have broth, vegetables and barley in each mouthful. Enough to just need a little bread and cheese on the side. Enough to feel sated and warmed after a grey February day.

Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup from Canteen by Cass Titcombe, Dominic Lake and Patrick Clayton-Malone
Serves 4 (or 2-3 as a main course with bread and cheese)

1 medium onion
100g celery, leaves reserved
100g swede
100g carrots
100g leeks
25ml olive oil
1 garlic cloves, chopped
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 litre vegetable stock (we used chicken)
35g pearl barley
handful of shredded savoy cabbage
handful of fresh curly or flat-lead parsley, stalks discarded
salt and black pepper

Peel or trim the vegetables and cut them into roughly 1cm dice. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and sweat the onion, celery stalks, swede, carrots and leeks for about 15 minutes without letting them brown. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the stock and salt to taste, stir and bring to the boil to cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the pearl barley and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the shredded cabbage, celery and parsley leaves. Bring back to the boil and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Season with lots of black pepper and serve hot.