Hearty Vegetable Minestrone with Barley and Meatballs

Minestrone is nothing more than a hearty vegetable soup, to which you add pasta, rice or barley. There are as many minestrone recipes as there are borscht recipes, so it is not necessary to strictly adhere to the recipe. Top your soup seasonally with pumpkin slices or green peas, white beans, or pesto.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• 5 sprigs of parsley
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 300 g minced pork and beef
• 1 tbsp. l. semolina
• 4 slices of bacon
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 medium zucchini
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1 liter chicken broth
• 2 tbsp. l. tomato paste
• 100 g spinach
• olive oil
• parmesan shavings for serving
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Soak the barley for at least 3 hours.
2. Chop parsley leaves finely, peel and chop the garlic. Mix minced meat with parsley and garlic, add semolina, salt and pepper well. Roll small meatballs with wet hands.
3. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Peel vegetables and cut into small cubes.
4. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the meatballs and fry on all sides until golden brown. Transfer to a plate.
5. Add a little more oil to the pan, if needed. Add bacon, onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add zucchini and tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes more. Pour in chicken broth, barley and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook soup, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. or until the pearl barley becomes soft.
6. Return the meatballs to the pot and continue cooking the soup for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add spinach. Cook for 3 minutes. and remove the pan from heat.
7. Pour the minestrone into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan shavings.