A hearty winter soup that is great served with a dense rye bread or crusty sourdough.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon fennel seeds or ground fennel
pinch chilli flakes
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 x 400 gram tin crushed Italian tomatoes
½ cup pearl barley
500 grams crown pumpkin, peeled and diced 2 cm pieces
2 handfuls baby spinach
zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup pesto
Parmesan for grating
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
METHOD
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, carrot, parsnip, garlic, fennel and chilli flakes with a good pinch of salt. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft. Add the stock, tomatoes, barley and pumpkin and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then simmer for 25 minutes until the barley is tender. Stir in the spinach, lemon zest and juice.
To serve: Ladle the soup into warm bowl and top with a spoonful of pesto and shaved Parmesan.
Pantry note: Pesto is available in the chilled section of the supermarket.
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Our latest of dish is an absolute bumper issue, packed with over 70 recipes! We start by chatting with the MasterChef Australia judges and Kiwi contestant Ben Mcdonald before cooking up the very best of what’s in season. Then we make freezer meals easy and delicious with double-batch cooking. Next up we share some of our faves including Pretzel-crumbed Chicken Schnitty and French Onion Soup Mac and Cheese. Then we whip up warming curries, tempting dinners for two, epic sides like our Parmesan-crusted Roasted Potatoes, and crowd pleasers like our cover-star Miso French Onion Chicken. We finish up with irresistible sweet treats and a run-down of top Aussie shiraz!