My mom used to make this pumpkin soup often in autumn and winter, when pumpkin is in season in Italy. It is a comforting and tasty soup, perfect for a cold winter evening. If you are vegetarian you can make it without speck. If you do cook it with speck though, try and find the Italian speck as its flavour is so distinctive that it gives this soup a special taste. I also like the chopped parsley added at the end as it gives the soup a refreshing flavour. If you do not have pearl barley, you could substitute it with rice.
Sharing this post with Hearth and Soul Hop by Kankana.
Ingredients for 4 persons:
750 gms potatoes, peeled and cubed in 3×3 cm pieces
750 gms pumpkin, peeled and cubed in 3×3 cm pieces
1 small onion, roughly chopped
50 gms Italian speck, thinly sliced and chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp parsley
Salt
Pepper
1 l water or stock
80 gms white pearl barley
Chop the onion and the sliced Italian speck and put them in a pot with the extra virgin olive oil.
Let it fry for a couple of minutes on a low flame.
Now add the chopped pumpkin and potatoes, add water (or stock), cover it and let it cook on a low flame until the vegetables are soft.
Add the pearl barley, adjust salt to your liking and keep cooking until the barley is soft.
You may have to add a little more water if the soup becomes too dense. When the barley is soft and the vegetables have almost melted, it is ready.
Serve warm with some ground pepper, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and chopped parsley on the top.
I also want to take the time to thank Tina from Pinay Cooking Corner for awarding me with The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award!
Since I started blogging I got to know lots of amazing people who share my same passion for cooking and food in general and I do feel blessed. Not only Tina is one of them, she and I have also something else in common: we are both trying to keep our culinary traditions alive while living in a different country to the one we were born in. When I read her blog (which by the way has amazing recipes and pictures) I can totally relate to her “expat” stories. So receiving this award from her means a lot to me. She is a very generous and supportive friend, one I am so happy to have “met”! Thank you Tina and keep up the fantastic work you are doing with your blog, Pinay Cooking Corner! <3
So here I am, sharing this award with a few other “blogging sisters” (even though I would love to share it with many more)! 🙂
Daksha from Daksha’s Vegetarian Recipes World
Elyse from The Cultural Dish
Fiona from Nuts About Food
Hester from Alchemy – Simple Ingredients, Magical Food
Jill from Mad About Macarons
Kankana from Sunshine & Smile
Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!
Mindy from Whiski Business
Nami from Just One Cookbook
Paola from An Italian Cooking in the Midwest
Sandra from Sandra’s Easy Cooking
Tiffany from Como Water
Visda from Eat, Drink and Just Be!
Enjoy visiting these sites!!! And thank you so much again Tina from Pinay Cooking Corner: salamat (hope it is correct!)!
I love pumpkin soup, too (I made a post about it a few time ago), especially with barley. I never made it with speck, though! I’ll try next fall 🙂
Aw, thanks so much for the award, Manu!!! I’m thrilled 🙂 And I can’t wait to visit all the neat blogs you’ve listed.
And your soup is just gorgeous! I love the addition of barley to a pumpkin soup…and that pop of green garnish is so pretty. Have a wonderful day, my friend 🙂
Thanks Lizzy! I am very happy to pass the award along to you my friend: all well deserved! <3 Have a great day! 🙂
What a healthy hearty soup 🙂 It looks so fresh and creamy 🙂
Hi Manu, congrats on yet another award and well deserved. Your blog always makes me hungry and you always have such interesting dishes – this soup is no exception. I love barley in soup and as the Irish weather has reverted to type (cool and wet) after a glorious late Spring, this is the perfect soup – warming and tasty but light and nourishing.
Oh, no, I wouldn’t substitute rice … I like the sound of it with barley! And I love your photo of the olive oil drizzled at the end! Thank you for the award! I was just telling a friend this weekend that I’ve got to get to Australia … or we’ve got to meet in the middle … do I hear culinary tour of South Africa???? 😉
Another great recipe, Manu. I love pumpkin soup and never tried it with barley. Sounds wonderful. Thank you so much for passing on the award, oh blogger sister!
I’ve never thought of combining barley with pumpkin… sounds delicious!
Manu! This pumpkin soup looks amazing. We have fabulous local pumpkins in the fall, and I will definitely be making this. Wonderful post.
Also – I don’t know if you got the message, but I linked to you on my “about blogging: six months” post. I hope you don’t mind at all. 🙂 All nice things, I promise. hehe.
Thank you Manu for your award! I am as always flattered to be mentioned amond the blogs you enjoy reading. I love pumpkin any way, but soup has to be one of my favorite.
Grazie mille! I am so happy you enjoy my blog and keep honoring me with this great awards!
By the way, my award from last week is back on! Please come and check it out: http://cookingitalianinthemidwest.blogspot.com/2011/05/roasted-tomato-pasta.html
Again huge THANKS Manela, for awarding me! I appreciate it very much!!!
And congrats to you on getting one as well!
You soup looks and sounds divine! I would love some right now..I am always for some good soup hahaha
Have a wonderful night sweetie!!!
HUGE thanks Manu for the award. It’s such an honor to be mentioned on your gorgeous blog. AND This soup looks so yummy. Although I am not such a speck eater but in this soup I can imagine how it makes the earthy vegetables so flavorful. Although I expected spring here, we have some cold rainy days now which are perfect for trying to make your delicious soup. I can imagine in your wintery days in southern hemisphere it’s very comforting.
Mm the combination of pumpkin with barley sounds interesting.. I’ll have to try this out!
Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Looks and sounds awesome Manu! I’ve been planning to try out your recipes for a while now. This whole
Month is going to be manu’s recipes month!:)
Thanks Noela, how sweet! 🙂 Let me know if you need any clarification on anything! Have fun! 🙂
Sista!!! WOOOHOOOO Soul SISTA! Blogger SIS SIS SISSSSSTA! Forgive my stutter….it happens when I drool and when I’m happy—both of which I am now. Thank you hun!!! I appreciate you awarding me. I’m tickled pink! Now—that soup, REALLY!? It looks so delish….its raining here today and I would LOVE a bowl of that! Yummmmmm!
Thanks again hun, you are so sweet! (((((((((hugs)))))))))
Thanks you for the award, Manu! You are amazing and deserve all of the awards you have received! I am honored to be able to blog with you 🙂
Manu .. thanks you so much for sharing the award with me 🙂 As for that soup .. I only wish I was living close to you!!! it looks so lovely. Hubby doesn’t like soup much .. so I hardly make them.
I love the look of this, so wholesome and hearty 🙂
First of all, I really like how you said about keeping our heritage alive. I’m very proud of us doing this, so our kids can grow up with some of our culture (and food is a big part of that). Your soup looks lovely… I love pumpkin so much. My grandma used to put barley in soup for healthy purpose and I didn’t like it. But now that I’m older, and you are cooking with it, I’m going to give it a try. Congratulations on your awards Manu. Your website is very inspirational to everyone, and me especially! Thanks for passing “sister” awards to me. I am so honored to receive this as it has a good meaning in this award. Thank you! 🙂
Oh how I wish it were cooler here and I could make this soup!! It sounds unbelievable. I love pumpkin!! I will have to come back to this in the fall when fresh pumpkin is in the market!!
You got it right, Manu! “Salamat” is the Filipino word for “Thank you”. 🙂
Walang anuman (You’re Welcome)! I’m truly glad to be sharing my blogging journey with wonderful people like you. :-*
Your pumpkin & barley soup looks so hearty, btw. Another addition to your recipes that I want to try…
What a wonderful looking, comforting soup! I love the flavors you used, too. Family recipes are the best! You have a beautiful blog and I’m glad to have found it. Going to check out more of your recipes now! 🙂 – Georgia
I only know the German version of barley soup which I absolutely adore, but this one looks and sounds really good too. I have never tried pumpkin in my life, but I feel very intrigued now, the soup looks so deliciously creamy…!
what a lovely pumpkin soup, manu. I love pumpkins but never tried it with barley. great recipe i’ll try some time and thanks for passing one more blogger award, my lovely blogger sister!