Barley And Vegetable Soup

• 1 cup pearl barley
• 3 cups hot water
• 1 3/4 ounces pancetta thinly sliced
• 1 3/4 ounces prosciutto thinly sliced
• 6 1/3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 vegetable cube
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 carrots thinly sliced
• 2 stalks celery thinly sliced
• 1 leek thinly sliced
• 1 bay leaf dried or fresh
• 1 sprig rosemary fresh
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• grated Parmesan cheese or Grana Padano, for sprinkling

1. Place barley in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let it soak for 20-30 minutes. Drain and rinse.
2. Cook barley in hot vegetable stock over medium heat for 15 minutes.
3. Cut the sliced pancetta and prosciutto into thin sticks.
4. Add pancetta, prosciutto, olive oil, carrots, celery, leeks, bay leaf and rosemary to the vegetable stock with pearl barley. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, or until barley and vegetables are very tender. Season with pepper.
5. Serve soup with grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese.

pearl barley, water, vegetable stock, vegetable cube, olive oil, carrots, stalks celery, bay leaf, rosemary, pepper, parmesan cheese

Taken from www.yummly.com/recipe/Barley-And-Vegetable-Soup-1647674 (may not work)