Homemade Bread and Soup

With Winter suddenly hitting hard here in the UK, it is time to crack open the good book of soup and eat some warm and hearty foods! Having a day off I decided to treat myself and spend some time making bread and some chunky soup to welcome my man home from work (aren't I the little homemaker). I followed my previous bread recipe here to make the bread. Starting last night, because some of it needs to be done and left overnight.

Then I searched my book of soups trying to find a really nice and chunky soup. I came across Ham and Pearl Barley. Sorted!

Things you need for the soup:
* 2 tablespoons of olive oil
* 1 medium onion, finely diced
* 30g green lentils
* 30g red split lentils
* 30g pearl barley
* 2 medium carrots, diced
* 800ml chicken stock
* 250g cooked ham - I used Spam
* 200g tinned haricot beans, rinsed and drains
* 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
* 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

What you need to do:
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan (a large one), then fry the onion for 10 minutes until transparent.

2. Rinse the lentils and pearl barley, then add to the saucepan along with the carrots, potatoes and stock.

3. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Shred the ham into bite size pieces, then add the ham and haricot beans to the saucepan. Simmer for a further 30 minutes

5. Check that all the pulses are thoroughly cooked, add extra stock or water to adjust the consistency if required.

6. Season to taste, stir in the parsley, then serve. Preferably with homemade bread!! :)

Scrummy!!