Comforting Beef And Vegetable Soup

Total Time: 5 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 5 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 1/2 ounces smoked streaky bacon, cut into 1in pieces
• 1 1/2 lbs stewing beef, cut into 1in pieces
• 3 onions, sliced
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 1/2 quart beef broth
• salt and black pepper
• 3 ounces pearl barley
• 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

Recipe

• 1 heat the oil in a large pan or casserole over a medium-high heat and fry the bacon for 3 minutes until browned. remove with a slotted spoon and place into a large bowl.
• 2 add the beef to the same pan and fry for about 5 minutes until a dark brown colour on all sides (you may need to do this is two batches to avoid overcrowding the pan). remove with a slotted spoon and add to the bacon.
• 3 tip the onions into the pan, reduce the heat to medium and sweat the onions for 5-10 minutes until softened and translucent, but not browned.
• 4 return the beef and bacon to the pan, along with any juices that have collected in the bowl then tip in the carrots, bay leaves and thyme.
• 5 cover with the broth, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. as soon as it comes to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer very gently for 2-3 hours. add a splash of water during cooking if necessary to prevent it from drying out.
• 6 stir in the pearl barley and simmer for a further hour. finally, add the potatoes and cook for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
• 7 taste for seasoning and serve with hunks of homemade bread to mop up the juices.