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Lamb Tomato and Barley Soup

Lamb, Tomato and Barley Soup - A Family Feast
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4.7 from 6 reviews

Lamb Tomato and Barley Soup is a hearty, rich and delicious soup with tender chunks of lamb, barley, sliced mushrooms, and diced tomatoes. Incredible!

Ingredients

Units Scale

To Make the Stock

  • 3 pounds meaty lamb bones (we bought “bone-in lamb stew” at our local market. They looked like thick cuts taken from a lamb shank)
  • 1 large onion peeled and quartered, about 3/4 pound
  • 1/4 cup shallots peeled and roughly cut up (2 1/2 ounces)
  • 1 large rib of celery with leaves cut into quarters
  • 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 4 whole leafy stems of parsley
  • 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1 large bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 whole black peppercorns
  • 4 quarts water (1 gallon)

To Make the Soup

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lamb fat, skimmed from the cooled stock
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 8 ounce container cremini mushrooms sliced (baby bella)
  • 6 cups lamb stock from stock above
  • 1 16-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
  • 1/2 cup dry pearl barley
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • Lamb meat picked from making stock (our stock yielded about a pound of meat)
  • Kosher salt to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • Additional chopped fresh parsley, as garnish

Instructions

To Make the Stock:

  1. In a large pot place lamb and cover with water. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and discard water. This will remove all impurities from the finished stock.
  2. Place lamb back in pot with all other stock ingredients, bring to a boil then simmer for 2 ½ hours uncovered. Cool and strain. Remove meat from other solids and discard solids. You should be left with about 5 or 6 cups of stock and about a pound or so of meat. A little more or less is fine. Let fat rise to top, skim off and discard all but one tablespoon of fat. Reserve that tablespoon for the soup.

To Make the Soup:

  1. Place the tablespoon of fat back into the pot along with two tablespoons of olive oil and add onions and garlic. Cook over medium high for four minutes and add mushrooms. Cook for another 3 minutes and add stock, diced tomatoes, barley, thyme, rosemary and parsley. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook covered for one hour.
  2. Remove lid and add cooked lamb and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat and taste for salt and pepper. I did not add any additional salt or pepper to mine.
  4. Serve with chopped fresh parsley sprinkled over the top of the bowls.

Notes

Note: The stock can be made the day before if you wish.

Find it online: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/lamb-tomato-and-barley-soup/