Barley Soup With Sausages (Minestra D’Orzo)

Ingredients

• 32oz (see notes) smoked sausage
• 16 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 1/4 cups pearl barley
• 2 large bay leaves
• 1/2 large head green cabbage, chopped
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, finely chopped
• 1 large celery stalk with leaves, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp tightly packed fresh parsley leaves, minced
• Two 3-inch sprigs fresh rosemar, or 2 teaspoons dried
• 3 tbsp tightly packed fresh marjoram leaves, minced, or 1 tbsp dried
• 4 large cloves garlic
• 4 red potatoes, diced
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• Shredded montasio or provolone cheese to top.

Directions

• Sautee or grill sausage until browned on all sides and heated through.
• Slice sausage into thin coins a place into a large soup pot along with the stock, barley, and bay leaves, bringing to boil, covered, for 30 minutes.
• Sautee cabbage until it begins to color (5–10 minutes)
• Add and cook until onions are browned (10–15 minutes)
  • Onions
  • Carrot
  • Celery
  • Parsley
  • Rosemary
• Add marjoram and garlic and cook briefly.
• Add everything from the pan into the pot along with potatoes
• Cook until barley and potatoes are tender (approx. 30 minutes)
• Add salt and papper
• Top each bowl with 1 or 2 Tbsp cheese

Commentary

The original dish is for a cabbage and barely vegetable soup that also happens to have sausage. To that end, it called for 6 oz of sausage, which is not enough for our taste. I made it with 16 oz, but that also felt a little low, so will try with 32 oz next. Maybe could also add something like shredded chicken or maybe beans. Regardless, it’s very tasty.

References

• Joy 2 p. 101