We had some barley in the pantry, sitting there since ages. At my call “What can we possibly do?”, my husband answered “Isn’t there a Scottish soup with barley?”. And there was, of course: Scotch Broth!

The cooking method is traditionally British: everything is boiled. No browning of the meat, no frying of onion, nothing… Water, boil, food. Which is, sometimes, when you have good, fresh and tasty ingredients, a good method. I gave it a try 🙂

Ingredients

1 kg lamb, any cut

1,8 l water

250 g barley

3 carrots

1 big leek

3 celery stalk, with leaves still on (if really fresh and green)

Salt

For 4 to 6 people

1. Bring the water and lamb to the boil.
2. Add the barley, cover and cook for 1 and 1/2 hour.
3. Clean the vegetables: trim, peel and slice the carrots, trim and slice the leek, trim and slice the celery, slicing even the leaves.
4. After the lamb and barley are cooking since 1 and 1/2 hour, add the vegetables, salt. Stir and cover. Let it cook for another hour.
5. Check for thickness: it has to be tick, not too watery.
6. Serve still hot, with warm bread&butter.

Note

I freezes perfectly (if all the ingredients were fresh at the beginning).