Ham and Pearl Barley Soup

​Ingredients

Ham hock (the size depends on your pan)

1/2 White Cabbage Shredded

Stalk of Leek Roughly Chopped

1 Brown Onion

2 Vegetable Stock Cubes

2 Cups Pearl Barley

1 tsp of ground ginger

1 tsp of cumin

2 tsp of Italian Herbs

6 stalks of celery chopped

4 carrots chopped

Method​

Cover the leeks with water in a large bowl and gently mix so that the dirt within the leeks can be removed

In an extra large saucepan place in the ham hock  and make sure that it fits. Remove hock from pan. Add a little bit of oil and cook down the onion until tender.

Add in the rinsed and strained leeks and cook for a further 3-5 minutes until leeks have softened.

Add in the ginger, cumin and italian herbs and mix to combine.

Add in the stock cubes, cabbage, celery, carrot and pearl barley and around 8 cups of water and stir.

Place the ham hock into the saucepan and cover with additional water to make sure the hock is covered and allow to cook for as long as possible (I cooked mine for around 8 hours).

Once the remaining ham is falling of the bone, remove the hock and manually remove the additional meat and set aside.

Using a stick blender, roughly chop up the contents of the soup, add the ham back in and continue to cook until the desired soup consistency is reached.

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