Scotch Broth
Scotch broth is the everyday soup of Scotland, a pot built on barley and dried peas with whatever root vegetables the kitchen holds. It is usually simmered on a lamb bone, but the barley and split peas carry the body and the savor on their own, releasing enough starch to thicken the broth into something you can stand a spoon in. No-salt bouillon and a long simmer do the seasoning; the sweetness of leek, carrot, and turnip means you never miss the salt. This is deliberate batch cooking. It costs almost nothing, freezes well, and thickens into a near-stew by the second day. Add the cabbage late so it stays green, and always finish with a fistful of raw parsley to wake the whole pot back up.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Hulled barley
- 1/2 cup Yellow split peas
- 2 wholes Leeks, split, washed, sliced
- 3 wholes Carrots, diced
- 2 wholes Turnips, diced
- 2 stalks Celery, diced
- 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
- 1 tbsp no-salt vegetable bouillon
- 2 wholes Bay leaves
- 1 tsp Dried thyme
- 3 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
Method
- Put the barley and split peas in a large pot with the bay, thyme, no-salt bouillon, and 8 cups (2 L) of water, and bring to a simmer. Starting the grain and the pulse in cold water together lets both give up their starch slowly, which is what thickens the broth without any flour or cream.
- Sweat the sliced leek in a spoonful of that broth in a separate wide pan until soft, about 6 minutes, then tip it into the pot with the carrot, turnip, and celery. Softening the leek first draws out its sweetness; added raw it would only ever taste like boiled onion.
- Simmer covered for about 50 minutes, until the barley is tender and the split peas have started to break down. The peas dissolving is the point, since they cloud and thicken the liquid into something between a soup and a stew.
- Add the shredded cabbage in the last 10 minutes so it keeps a little bite, then finish with the pepper and parsley. Long-cooked cabbage turns gray and sulfurous, so it goes in late, and the raw parsley at the end lifts a pot that has been on the stove for over an hour.
- Let it rest off the heat for 10 minutes before serving. It thickens as it stands, and like most barley soups it is better the next day once the grain has drunk up the broth.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 210 calories, 10 g protein, 9 g fiber, 70 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
