Leek, Barley & Chickpea Soup
This wintry soup tastes even better when left overnight, allowing the flavours to really develop.
Ingredients
3 leeks, chopped into 2cm cubes
2 Spanish onions, roughly chopped
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
5 tbsp olive oil
1 orange
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red chilli, deseeded if you like, and finely chopped, seeds left in if you like it hotter
1 tsp caster sugar
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2.5 l/4½ pt vegetable stock (a cube is fine)
1 sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf
250g/9oz pearl barley
grated cheese and crusty bread, to serve
Method
-
1 Tip the leeks, onions, carrot, celery and olive oil
into a large pan. Cook over a low heat for 5 mins,
stirring often, until the vegetables start to soften.
Finely grate the zest of the orange and add to the
pan with the garlic, chilli and sugar. Cook for
1 min longer, then add the tomatoes and squeeze
over the juice of the orange. -
Tip in the chickpeas, vegetable stock, rosemary
and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, then leave to simmer
for 20 mins. Add the barley and cook for another
40 mins, until the barley is cooked. Season with salt
and black pepper. Serve with crusty bread and
sprinkled with grated cheese.
PER SERVING
267 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 41g, fat 9g,
saturated fat 1g, fibre 4g, added sugar 1g, salt 1.24g
