Swiss Army Barley Soup (for freezing)
Barley soup from Graubünden with Vienna sausages is one of my favorite lunches on a day of skiing in the Eastern Swiss Alps. This recipe is based on a Swiss Army recipe. To be honest, I’ve “slightly” adjusted the ingredients. Of course, the Swiss Army version doesn’t include Bündnerfleisch as a topping, and generally uses fewer vegetables and bacon—and you won’t find a Vienna sausage in it either. This recipe is very hearty and is intended as a complete meal—that is, as a main course rather than an appetizer. The cooking and preparation time is calculated for 20 servings.
Send shopping list to Bring!Preparation
1. Prepare the vegetables
- 15vol lCooking pot (Vol L = minimum cooking pot volume in liters)
- 1200gOnions
- 900gCarrots
- 600gLeek
- 900gCeleriac
Peel the vegetables, finely chop the onions, wash the leeks thoroughly, and cut them into small pieces. Cut the carrots and celeriac into small cubes (approx. 5 mm | ⅕ in). Set the onions aside separately.
2. Prepare the meat
- 1050gSmoked farmhouse bacon
Completely remove the bacon rind and cartilage. Set the bacon rind aside separately. Cut the bacon into small cubes of approx. 10 mm | ⅖ in.
3. Prepare the soup
- 75gNutural oil
- 600gRolled barley
- 5100mlChicken stock (unsalted, homemade)
- 2400mlWater
- 3pcBay leaf (fresh or dried)
- 45gSalt
- 9gPepper (freshly grounded)
Pour the oil into a large pot and lightly sauté the bacon cubes over medium-high heat (7/9), then add the onions and sauté them as well. Reduce the heat slightly, add the pearl barley, and sauté it too. Now add the vegetables and sauté them as well. Make sure the vegetables don’t brown. Fill with chicken stock and water, add the bacon rinds and bay leaf, bring to a brief boil, then let simmer for 2 hours. Skim off the white foam and fat that rises to the top with a ladle, and remove the bacon rinds and bay leaf. Then season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Storage and Shelf Life
- 30pcStorage tin (400 ml | 13.5 oz volume)
Fill the storage container to 5 mm | ⅕ in below the rim. Do not fill to the brim, as the mixture expands when frozen. Place the lid on and let it cool at room temperature or, preferably, in the refrigerator. Once everything has cooled, freeze it in the freezer. If available, turn on the quick-freeze or flash-freeze function so that the freezing process happens as quickly as possible, resulting in fewer ice crystals forming. There are different theories regarding the shelf life of frozen food; for my part, I have never thrown away frozen soup and have never had a bad experience with it. Generally speaking, freezer burn is neither harmful nor toxic, but it does reduce the quality of the frozen food. As a general rule, the longer something is frozen, the more nutrients and flavor are lost. In any case, for this recipe, you should add the heavy cream only during preparation and not before freezing. In principle, you could also can this soup. However, due to bad experiences with canning soups, I’ve switched to consistently freezing them.
5. Preparation of the soup (1 serving)
- 1pcStorage tin with frozen soup (400 ml | 13.5 oz volume)
- 2pcViennese sausages
- 15gDried meat (best to use dried meat from eastern Switzerland)
- 30mlWater
- 100mlCream
- 3pcParsley leaf (fresh)
- 2pnSalt
- 1pnPepper (freshly grounded)
Place the frozen soup in a saucepan, pour water into the storage container, put the lid on, shake well, and pour the rinsed-out water into the saucepan with the soup. Cover and let thaw slowly over medium heat (heat setting 5/9). Add the sausages and simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut the Bündnerfleisch into slices about 15 mm | ⅗ in thick. Remove the sausages, cut them into small rounds, and return both to the soup. Add heavy cream, stir, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a brief boil, then serve garnished with parsley or chives and enjoy immediately.
