Traditional Chicken Broth with Pearl Barley

Ingredients

• 200 g pearl barley
• Salt
• 3 Carrots
• 200 g knollensellerie (celery root)
• 200 g Kohlrabi
• 1 stalk leeks
• 1 whole soup chicken (about 1.2 kg)
• 1 large onion
• 2 Bay leaves
• 4 cloves of nutmeg
• 0.5 bunch thyme
• Salt
• 0.25 bunch Parsley
• 0.25 bunch lovage
• 50 g grated Parmesan cheese
• 60 ml olive oil
• black pepper (ground)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Bring the pearl barley to a boil in a pot with water and cook for 40 minutes over medium heat. Drain, rinse under cold water and let it drain well. Peel the carrots, kohlrabi and celery root and cut them into 1 cm pieces. Clean the leeks, wash them and slice into 1 cm wide rings. Wash the chicken, pat dry and divide into eight parts. Halve the unpeeled onion and pierce with bay leaves and nutmeg. Shake thyme dry after washing.

2. 2.

   Add thyme, onion, 1 tsp salt and the chicken to a pot, cover with water and simmer for about 60 minutes. Remove the soup chicken from the pot, strain the broth and pour it into a new pot. Separate the meat from the bones and shred into small pieces. Wash parsley and lovage, shake dry and pluck the leaves. In a mortar or with an immersion blender blend Parmesan and olive oil into a paste.

3. 3.

   Add the paste to the pearl barley and keep warm. Bring the broth back to a boil, add the vegetables and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add the meat and pearl barley to the soup, season with salt and pepper and let it rest briefly.

4. 4.

   Serve immediately.