Israeli Hot Yogurt & Barley Soup
By: Peggi Gell
Published: Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - 10:39am

Ingredients




6 3/4 cups water
1 cup pearl barley
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried mint
4 Tbs unsalted butter
2 large eggs, beaten
scant 2 cups Greek yogurt
2/3 oz fresh mint, chopped
1/3 oz flat-leaf parsley, chopped
3 green onions, thinly sliced
salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1 Bring water to a boil with the barley in a large saucepan, adding 1 tsp salt, and simmer until the barley is cooked but still al dente, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Once cooked, you will need 4 1/4 cups of the cooking liquid for the soup; top up with water if you are left with less due to evaporation. 2 While the barley is cooking, saute the onion and dried mint over medium heat in the butter until soft, about 15 minutes. Add this to the cooked barley. 3 Whisk together the eggs and yogurt in a large heatproof mixing bowl. Slowly mix in some of the barley and water, one ladle at a time, until the yogurt has warmed. This will temper the yogurt and eggs and stop them from splitting when added to the hot liquid. 4 Add the yogurt to the soup pot and return to medium heat, stirring continuously, until the soup comes to a very light simmer. Remove from the heat, add the chopped herbs and green onions and check the seasoning. Serve hot

About

This soup gets its creamy texture from yogurt, its coolness from mint, and its health factor from barley.