Italian soup that is robust and filling and contains veggies, pancetta, cannellini beans, and pearl barley.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 50 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 5 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- ½ pound pearl barley
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 ounces pancetta bacon, diced
- ¾ onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, divided
- water to cover
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or as desired
Instructions
- Place barley into a bowl and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand for 1 hour. Drain.
- Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook until slightly crisp, about 3 or 4 minutes. Stir onion, carrot, and celery into pancetta and cook until vegetables are slightly softened, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Mix half of the beans into vegetable-pancetta mixture and pour in enough water to cover; stir in barley and remaining beans. Season mixture with salt and pepper. Bring liquid to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring regularly and adding more water if soup gets too thick.
- Remove saucepan from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Serve soup with rosemary leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 536 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 77 g |
| Cholesterol | 5 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 19 g |
| Protein | 18 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 1739 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This turned out great! When I got home from the store I discovered that I had less barley than I thought, so I supplemented with some wild rice and orzo pasta (pasta added last 8 mins) instead. I also doubled the bacon as it was our main dish that night. So it was great. Next time I would add more water than I had thought I needed the first time I made it.