Pearl Barley and Vegetable Soup

Where did the summer go? It's a thick white sky every morning where the sun used to hang. Bring on the soup to warm the insides. There's something about pearl barley slipping and sliding amongst tender vegetables in a hot stewy broth that can turn a pretty ordinary vegetable soup into something special. Tiny jewels of barley give this soup a lovely contrasting texture and the dash of whole-grain mustard and Tabasco give it that extra kick.

Ingredients:

300g pearl barley

1 litre of good vegetable stock
2 bay leaves

2 tbsps butter

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

1 leek

4 parsnips

2 celery sticks

2 small potatoes, such as Charlotte

Large handful of hopped fresh herbs such as oregano and thyme

1 and half teaspoons of wholegrain mustard

dash of Tabasco

150ml single cream

Sea salt and ground black pepper

Method:

1. Prepare your vegetables. Peel and finely chop the garlic and onion. Peel the potaotes, and parsnip and and chop into small 2/2cm squares. Top and tail and finely chop the celery.
2. Slice a sharp knife top to bottom down the leek, (but don't cut it all the way open), fan it out and let cold water run through it to get rid of any grit. Finly chop the cleaned leek.
3. Heat the butter in a large pan over a medium heat and add the onions and bay leaf, stir through in the melted butter for 2 minutes.
4. Add the potatoes and parsnips and cook for 2 minutes more.
5. Add the leeks, celery, garlic and herbs. Season with a few good pinches of sea salt.
6. Stir int he pearl barley. Cook for a minute stirring together.
7. Add the stock, mustard and tabasco, cover and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes or until the pearl barley. potatoes, and parsnip are softened.
8. Season with black pepper and a little more sea salt and stir in the cream. Taste and add a little more if necessary. Remove the bay leaf and serve.