Combat winter's chill with a bowl of soup and a week of great soup recipes. We begin with a barley soup made with your Instant Pot. Work in a bunch of aromatics, chopped turkey, tender white beans, and fresh escarole or other hearty greens to bring a bowl of comfort to your table. What's even better is that because you are using the pressure cooker, a soup that would normally need to simmer for hours can be on your table in less than an hour.
If you have chicken instead of turkey, use that. If you have a different kind of bean on hand, use that. If you have a different hearty green you'd like to use, use that. Notice a theme? Stick with the aromatic broth and barley and feel free to tweak most of the rest of this soup around that base. Make it yours.
I love serving generous bowls of this soup with chunks of crusty bread for dipping. If you want, you could also grate a bit of parmesan or other hard cheese over each serving. However you dig in, enjoy and you can look forward to more soups as the week progresses.
Turkey, Escarole & Barley Soup
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- ¼ cup diced celeriac
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ cup uncooked pearl barley
- 2 tablespoons white or yellow miso paste
- ½ pound diced cooked turkey
- 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 head escarole, chopped
Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot and turn on the sauté function. When the oil starts to sizzle, add the onion, celeriac, garlic, and ginger. Sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the onion so it doesn’t burn or stick to the pot.
Add the broth and pearl barley. Secure the lid and cook the soup for 15 minutes on high pressure.
When the cooking time is complete, wait 10 minutes then do a quick release of steam.
In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of miso paste with ½ cup of the hot soup broth until very smooth.
Slowly pour the miso into the pot of soup, stirring or whisking as you pour.
Add the turkey, cannellini beans, and escarole. Stir and heat gently to bring the soup to your desired temperature and to wilt the greens. Serve warm in bowls.
- Yields: 6-8 servings
- Preparation Time: 40 minutes