A Gift From Graubünden.

As the temperature drops nothing beats a warming soup. And what could be better for keeping the chills away than a «Bündner Gerstensuppe». Food blogger and wonderful Ronster Mel B, (a spice girl?) came up with this great recipe which is easily made and soup-er yummy. The soup uses a speciality of the Graubunden region, the dried beef know as «Bundnerfleisch» but you can leave this out if you fancy a vegetarian soup. 

Ingredients:

2 onions finely chopped, 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons butter 

200 g Bündnerfleisch, cut into strips

1 leek, cut into rings

1 celery, finely diced

6 carrots, finely diced

1 savoy cabbage, cut into strips

2 bay leaves

200 g barley

1 L vegetable broth

1 L beef broth

2 dl cream

salt and pepper 

Preparation:

Sauté the onions and garlic in a large saucepan with butter, add the barley and cook briefly. Then add the vegetables and the bay leaves and sauté. Deglaze the pad with the stock and cook on a medium heat for an hour, stirring regularly.

Add the cream and the Bündnerfleisch and cook briefly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

If you have, garnish with flat parsley and serve with fresh bread!

Vegetarian: Simply omit the Bündnerfleisch and the beef broth.