Doug’s Inspired Mushroom Barley Soup with Italian Veal Meatballs

(Written a few weeks ago - just now getting it posted)

Sometimes an original dish starts with the concept and I hunt down the ingredients to bring the concept to fruition, and sometimes it’s the other way around. In the case of this enjoyable meal, I started with ingredients and waited for inspiration to strike.

“Hey Doug, what are you doing?”

“Taking out that ground veal I bought a while back for dinner tomorrow night.”

That is how it all started. With a package of ground veal and the knowledge that I needed to create from it. I waited for an inspiration.

Fast forward to late this afternoon: “Jacque, what do you think about mushroom barley soup with Italian veal meatballs for dinner?” This just sounded delicious, and it was.

Soup

3 cups sliced mushrooms

2 thin sliced carrots

½ diced yellow onion

1 32 ounce container of organic vegetable broth

1 splash of red wine

½ tablespoon garlic

1/8 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon oregano

Ground pepper – to taste

Chopped parsley for garnish

1 cup washed pearl barley

When I got home I sliced up about three cups of mushrooms, diced ½ of an onion, and chopped the carrots into thin slices.  I added a stick of butter to a large soup pan and melted over medium heat.  When the butter was melted I added the vegetables and cooked over medium heat adding about a 1/8^-cup olive oil (really did not want more butter).  Once the vegetables were softened, I added in the pearl barley, and 32 ounces of store bought organic vegetable broth.  I keep a lot of different broths in my pantry just in case.  I cooked this over a medium heat after adding a splash of our wine choice for the night – any red or dry white will work in this case - while I went to work on the meatballs.

Meatballs

1 lb. veal (you can use Italian sausage, pork, probably even ground turkey)

1 egg

2/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon ‘generic Italian seasoning’

Little pepper

Little salt

½ cup diced onion

1/8 cup Parmesan grated cheese

Olive oil for cooking

I added all the ingredients into a large metal bowl and hand mixed.  I heated skillet on the oven at medium with a little olive oil, and formed my veal into medium sized meatballs.  I cooked them on the stove turning them as they browned on each side.  When the meatballs were cooked I added them to the soup using a slotted spoon, attempting to leave as much grease behind as possible.  I allowed them to cook and share their flavors with the soup for a few more minutes, and then served the mushroom barley soup with meatballs, garnished with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Our wine tonight was a delightful surprise.  Jacque and I picked out a bottle of 2007 Zanato Ripassa (http://www.zenato.it/scheda.asp?idprod=77&idpadrerif=66).  Cellartracker.com indicated that the suggested drinking window for this wine is 2010-2015.  It was silky smooth; Jacque described it as a chocolaty texture.  I tasted a lot of cherry in it, and I have to agree that it had kind of a barnyard taste in the beginning.  Note – this is by no means insulting to a wine; it is simply a common way of describing a certain taste.  This was a moderately intense wine with no noticeable tannins or lasting palate.  It was a very enjoyable bottle and a perfect pairing to a great meal!