Barley Soup with Caramelized Onions and Pecorino Cheese

Can you believe October is more than halfway over!? I'm inclined to think it's still August or September here in California.

 We had fall weather not too long ago, maybe two weeks? It rained. It was chilly. I loved it. Today? Today it was 86 degrees outside. 86.

I shouldn't complain. I know that, yadda yadda, but I'm eager to make soups. Very eager. So eager, that I haven't let this disgustingly warm weather (don't mind my opinions. They creep in.) stop me from making some new soups.

 I'm also eager to try using new whole grains.

 Tell me if this ever happens to you. You plan your meals, you make a great grocery list and you head to the store. You walk with determination and drive toward all the delicious items on the list, feeling accomplished with each item you place in your cart and the budget you will most certainly be able to mind. Until, oh yes, you see something glimmering like shiny new jewels on a shelf. An item you, maybe, read about in a recent drool worthy recipe or have been curious to try. So you snatch that bad boy up and toss it in your already too full shopping cart. You unpack it with love and tender care and all the best intentions in the world only to realize that weeks go by and the not-so-newly acquired goods get dusty.

That may or may not be a weekly recurrence in my grocery shopping regime. I decided it was high time to try some of the grains I'd purchased so lovingly not that long ago. The lucky grain this time- barley!

Barley and soups were just made for each other. I just adore barley soups and this one with the fabulous pecorino cheese was just delightful. 

 And guess what? Now I've reinforced my indulgent grocery shopping behavior! Excellent!

Barley Soup with Caramelized Onions and Pecorino Cheese

From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison  (ok, so I’m crazy in love with this cookbook)

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil

3 onions, diced

2 quarts, 8 cups, vegetable stock

about ½ cup dried porcini mushrooms

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon minced rosemary

1 cup pearl barley, rinsed

1 cup diced celery

2 carrots, diced

salt and pepper

½ cup pecorino cheese

Heat the oil up in a soup pot. Add the onions and cook, covered, on low heat for 40 (yes, 40!) minutes. Put the lid aside, turn up the heat to medium and cook the onions until they are browned. While the onions are cooking, either make some delicious vegetable stock and add the porcinis or if using store bought stock, rehydrate the porcinis in the stock at this point. Take them out of the stock before you strain it, or when they are plump and dice them up.

As soon as the onions are gorgeously browned, add the tomato paste and rosemary. Let these flavors mix and mingle for a few minutes. Now, add the barley, vegetables, diced porcini and stock and bring it all to a boil. Bring the heat down and simmer the soup, covered slightly, until the vegetables and the barley are done. This should take around 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When you serve it, grate the pecorino on top- it makes all the difference. Don’t skip that step! 

Enjoy!

-m