Barley Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon good olive oil
- 1.5 pounds beef bones
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
- 2 cups (1/2-inch) diced carrots (4 carrots)
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 cup (1/2-inch) diced celery (2 stalks)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 can tomato paste
- 1 tsp thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cartons beef broth
- 1.5 cups pearled barley, rinsed
Directions
Roast the bones in the oven for an hour. Drain off fat.
Add the leeks, carrots, onion, celery, and garlic to the fat in the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables start to brown. Tie the thyme sprigs together with kitchen string and add to the pot along with the bay leaves. Add tomato paste. Return the bones to the pot and add the broth, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Deglaze the roasting pan used for the bones and add liquid to the soup. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Discard the thyme bundle and the bay leaves, and skim off the fat.
About 30 minutes before soup is done, add rinsed barley to the pot. Add more water as needed.
When the soup is ready, add the barley and cook the soup for another 15 or 20 minutes, until the barley is tender. Depending on the saltiness of the stock, the soup might need another teaspoon of salt and some pepper. Serve hot, with or without the oxtails.
