CELERIAC, BACON & BARLEY SOUP

This winter warming soup is filled with earthy flavours from our homegrown celeriac, smoky bacon, sweet onions & rosemary. Seasonal eating never felt so wholesome!

Difficulty:

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon from our Master Butchers, finely sliced
6 fresh rosemary sprigs
2 onions, finely chopped
600g Darts Farm celeriac, peeled and chopped into 0.5-1cm chunks
125g pearl barley
1.75 litres good quality vegetable stock
4 heaped tbsp crème fraîche
Whole nutmeg for grating

Method

Heat the butter in a large pan over a medium heat, then fry the bacon and the leaves from 1 rosemary sprig for 8-10 minutes until crisp. Set aside some of the bacon and rosemary to garnish, then add the chopped veg and reduce the heat. Cook gently for 15 minutes until softened. Finely chop the rest of the rosemary leaves and add to the pan for the last 2 minutes.

Stir in the pearl barley and stock, then bring to the boil. Season, then simmer for 40 minutes or until the barley is soft and the soup is thick. Taste and season.

Ladle into bowls, add crème fraîche, grate nutmeg over and finish with the reserved bacon and rosemary. Serve with a hunk of Vicky's sourdough!