If you are thinking of doing more home cooking, then soups are a great way to begin. This pearl barley soup is not a blended soup; it is good and chunky. The twins love it and I make it most weeks; often with some chicken thigh or breast poached and added. It is a great after-school meal. The streaky bacon adds flavour and it is an ideal soup to make some extra and freeze.

Whenever I make the potato, leek and bacon soup I am reminded of Saturdays chatting with the wonderful Marian Finucane. It is such a short time since her passing and I often think of her family. On one programme with her, a French journalist told us that this soup was one of the first things given to babies when weaned. It always stuck with me as an example of how the French appreciate food and taste right from the beginning. Leeks are sometimes spoken of as the poor man’s asparagus, but I love them and use all of the green and white part in this. Vegetarians can leave out the bacon, and use cream instead of milk for a beautifully rich soup.

Happy cooking

Neven

Recipes

Traditional vegetable soup with barley

Serves six

50g pearl barley

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

2 celery sticks, diced

1 small leek, diced

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

50g rindless streaky bacon, diced (optional)

1.2 litres chicken or vegetable stock

1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

sea salt and freshly ground

black pepper

brown wheaten bread to serve (optional)

  • 1 Place the pearl barley in a sieve and rinse well under cold running water.
  • 2 Heat the rapeseed oil in a pan and stir in the onion, carrot, celery, leek and thyme. Add the bacon, if using, and sauté for five minutes, until the vegetables are softened and the bacon is sizzling.
  • 3 Pour the stock into the vegetable mixture, add the rinsed barley and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables and barley are completely tender, but still holding their shape. Stir in the parsley and season to taste.
  • 4 To serve, ladle the soup into warmed bowls and hand around a separate basket of the wheaten bread, if liked.

    • Potato, leek and potato soup.

    \ Photography: Claire-Jeanne Nash.

    Food styling: Janine Kennedy

    Potato, leek and bacon soup

    Serves six

    1 tbsp rapeseed oil

    1 onion, finely chopped

    2 potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

    100g smoked bacon lardons

    3 small leeks, trimmed and finely chopped

    1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

    900ml chicken or vegetable stock

    100ml milk

    sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

    crème fraîche, to serve

    snipped fresh chives, to garnish

  • 1 Heat the oil in a large pan and tip in the onion, potatoes and bacon. Cook for five minutes, until the bacon has crisped up slightly, stirring constantly. Add the leeks and thyme and cook for another five minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables have softened but not coloured and the bacon is nice and crispy.
  • 2 Pour the stock into the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, then cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes, until slightly reduced and all the vegetables are completely tender.
  • 3 Blitz the soup with a hand blender, then pour in the milk. Season to taste and reheat gently.
  • 4 Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and garnish with dollops of crème fraîche and a sprinkling of snipped fresh chives.