Legume and Grain Soup

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PRESENTATION

Legume and Grain Soup

The legume and grain soup is a first course very simple to prepare, healthy, and substantial. Enriched with vegetables and aromatic herbs, the legume and grain soup is ideal to be eaten warm and steaming during the cold winter days.
A comfort food to prepare at home, with various types of legumes and grains. Today we propose a version with peas, lentils, beans, barley, and spelt, but you can customize it according to your tastes with the ingredients you love most. Potatoes will give the right creaminess, so try not to replace them.

If you have cheese rinds or leftovers in the refrigerator, also add them to the soup during cooking: you will see what a flavor!
The legume and grain soup is a substantial first course that, due to its nutritional characteristics, can also be considered a balanced single dish.

Here are other soups not to be missed:

  • Peasant Soup
  • Legume and Turmeric Soup
  • Grass Pea Soup
  • Chickpea Soup
  • Mixed Legume Soup
  • Bean Soup
INGREDIENTS
Dried lentils 3 ½ cups (100 g)
Peeled red lentils ½ cup (100 g)
Dried peas 3 ½ cups (100 g)
Dried Borlotti beans ½ cup (100 g)
Dried cannellini beans 1 cup (100 g)
Spelt 150 g (150 g)
Pearl barley ¾ cup (150 g)
Carrots 1 ½ cup (150 g)
Celery 1 cup (120 g)
Yellow onions 1
Potatoes 0.75 lb (360 g)
Extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp (40 g)
Peeled tomatoes 1 cup (250 g)
Bay leaves to taste
Sage to taste
Rosemary to taste
Water to taste
Fine salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Preparation

How to prepare Legume and Grain Soup

To prepare the legume and grain soup, first, soak the beans 1 overnight or for the time indicated on their package. Then place them in a large pot and fill it with cold water 2. Cook for 1 hour from the first boil 3. You can flavor the water with garlic and bay leaves but do not salt it at all, otherwise, the legumes will harden.

In the meantime, dice the peeled carrot 4, celery 5, and onion 6 into about 1/2 of an inch cubes.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes 7. Tie the herbs tightly 8, this way they will be easy to remove at the end of cooking. Shred the tomatoes. Rinse all the legumes and grains. In the meantime, drain the beans. Do not worry if they are still slightly hard, as they will cook further. Pour a good amount of oil at the bottom of a large saucepan. First, add the onion 9 and sauté, stirring for 3-4 minutes.

Then add celery and carrot 10 and sauté for another 2 or 3 minutes. At this point, add the barley 11 and the spelt 12.

Add the two types of lentils, the peas 13, and the drained beans 14. Pour in about 2 quarts of water 15.

Add the tomatoes 16, the bouquet garni 17, and the diced potatoes 18.

Stir and cover with the lid 19. Let it cook from the boiling point for about 40 minutes, over moderate heat, adding more water as needed to adjust the density. Towards the end of cooking, therefore remove the bouquet and season generously with salt and pepper 20. Stir well. Let it rest a few minutes, and serve with a drizzle of raw oil.

How to store

The soup can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Keep in mind that it will tend to "grow," that is, legumes and grains will absorb all the broth, and the soup will become almost solid. In this case, add water, adjust the salt and pepper again to compensate, and put everything back on the fire. If there's a dish that is also good overcooked, that dish is a soup, and whoever started using reheated soup as a pathetic metaphor must have never tasted one done properly.

Tips

Instead of individual legumes and grains, you can use a convenient mix (17.6-24.7 oz), bought in bulk. In this case, follow the times reported on the package.

You can vary the quality of the legumes, but keep in mind that if you insert, for example, chickpeas, they will have different soaking and cooking times. You can consider using pre-cooked ones.

You can flavor the soup with properly scraped cheese rinds.

When it's pumpkin season, you can use it instead of carrots or potatoes

During cooking, you will need to add more water to adjust the density. You will reach a total of 2 1/2 to 3.2 quarts, but do not add them all at the beginning because, as grandmothers teach, adding is easier than taking away, and no one likes a watery soup where the starches struggle to do their job: a good legume and grain soup should be thick and blended.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.