Winter Vegetable and Pearl Barley soup

Soup is my current favourite winter lunch. It’s warming and a good way to get a good serve of vegetables at lunch time. I’ve made a big batch of this and popped it in single serve containers in the freezer to grab before work for lunch. Delicious served with some fresh, thick toasted rye bread.

This recipe was originally from Dish magazine, with a few slight adjustments by me.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
pinch of chili flakes
5 cups chicken stock
1 400g tin of tomatoes
1 cup water
1/2 cup pearl barley
500g pumpkin, peeled and diced into 2cm pieces
zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup pesto

Heat olive oil in a fry pan and add the onion, carrots, parsnip, garlic, fennel seeds and chili flakes. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft.  Add the stock, tomatoes, barley and pumpkin and season with pepper.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 35 minutes, until the barley is tender.  Stir in the lemon zest and juice.  Serve with a tablespoon of pesto and Parmesan cheese.