Easy, Healthy vegetable & Bacon Soup

Submitted by Scandigirl

"All the wonderful fall vegetables makes this soup so tasty. An easy weekend meal served with a nice warm, crusty bread roll!"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 30mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 -2 bacon, bones
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 large onion
• 1 turnip
• 1 parsnip
• 1 zucchini
• 2 large potatoes
• 3 carrots
• 3 stalks celery, with the leaves
• 1 piece pumpkin, a good sized chunk,to taste
• 3⁄4 cup pearl barley or 3/4 cup barley soup mix
• 1 tablespoon instant bouillon granules
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

directions

1. Peel and chop all the vegetables to preferred sizes.
2. Saute the onion in olive oil, add garlic after a few minutes.
3. Add chopped celery and carrot and saute together until soft.
4. Sprinkle in some stock powder and some water if it is sticking (it adds a lovely flavour when it scoops up all the crispy bits!) Add the bacon bones to about 1 liter of water and the stock powder.
5. Bring to a boil, add all the vegetables, the soup mix and any further seasoning that you might like, like salt and pepper, mixed herbs, 1/2 tsp.
6. chili flakes.
7. Once it boils again, reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer for about and hour to an hour and a half.
8. Make sure you keep stirring now and then so the barley does not stick, and keep adding water as it reduces down.
9. Remove the bacon bones, leaving all that lovely flavour-- I then pop the soup into the blender, puree until smooth and refrigerate after it has cooled overnight.
10. Reheat the next day.