Recipes

Pearl barley stew with Alsace bacon

Vanessa Greenwood’s pearl barley stew with Alsace bacon

Vanessa Greenwood
Sat Feb 4 2017 - 06:00
Serves: 6
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 1 hr 0 mins
Ingredients
  • Serves 6
  • 30g butter
  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 large leek, sliced
  • 40g mushrooms, quartered
  • 2 onions, roughly chopped
  • 2 sticks celery, chopped
  • 4 carrots, roughly chopped
  • 200g Alsace bacon (or smoked streaky rashers), cut into short strips
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • pinch chilli powder
  • 500g pearl barley, rinsed
  • 1.5 litre beef stock, hot
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Handful chives

Heat the butter and oil in a heavy-based saucepan and sauté the leeks for a few minutes, then season with salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms, sauté until coloured, then add the onions, celery and carrots. Stir over a high heat for 5-10 minutes. Add the Alsace bacon, stir over a high heat again, before reducing the heat slightly and adding the garlic and tomato purée. Stir to coat everything well, then add the thyme leaves, bay leaf and chilli powder and stir until the purée becomes brick coloured. Add the barley, then the hot stock and Worcestershire sauce.

Return to a rolling boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes, adding a little more liquid if it starts to dry out, while also skimming off any foam.

It is ready when most of the liquid has been absorbed. Allow it to stand for five minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning to your taste with sugar, salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl garnished with chopped chives.

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