Barley Mountain Soup Zuppa Dorzo Con Salsiccia |
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 120 Minutes |
Ready In: 120 Minutes Servings: 10 |
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This recipe comes from Mom, who got it from one of the Splendid Table Cookbooks. The fresh rosemary is a must! The soup suffers without it. Buttermilk gives the soup a delicious tang. Farmers use it instead of, part of, or all of the water in the soup, since buttermilk is plentiful in Trentino's dairy country. Read more . Everyone churns their own butter, and the buttermilk left after churning is cooked into bread, sweets and soups like this one.. It curdles slightly in the soup but tastes fine. The soup tastes even better the second day. The recipe calls for a thin soup, but I like it slightly thicker, and thus I substitute a couple of regular baking potatoes for a couple of the red-skinned potatoes. This soup also freezes particularly well. Enjoy! Ingredients:
2 medium onions |
2 medium carrots |
1/4 tightly packed cup of fresh italian parsley leaves |
2 large cloves garlic |
3-4 medium red-skinned potatoes (about 1 pound) peeled and thinly sliced |
olive oil |
1 cup barley |
1/2 pound smoked ham hocks or to taste |
3 3-inch branches fresh rosemary |
1 quart buttermilk |
about 4 quarts water |
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste |
Directions:
1. finely chop the onions, carrots, parsley and garlic. Combine the barley, potatoes and meat in a 6-8 quart pot. Add half the onion mixture to the pot with 2 branches of the rosemary. Add buttermilk if desired. Then add 4 quarts water. Simmer 50 minutes or until the barley is almost tender.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat. Saute' the rest of the chopped vegetables to a golden brown.
3. Add to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Simmer another 30-40 minutes
4. Remove the meat and bones. Break up meat into small pieces and return them to the pot, along with more water if the soup is a dense as stew. It should be a thick but soupy soup. Strip the leaves from the remaining branch of rosemary and mince. Stir into the pot and simmer another 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings and taste. Serve hot.
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