Hearty Minestrone with Barley, Sage, and Beans

I am not a lover of minestrone. I tried this soup, and it is fantastic! The sage really gives it a wonderful flavor, and the barley thickens it and makes it taste rich. I have made it a dozen times, and it comes out consistently great every time. I have done it in the crock pot and it works well. It's nice to put a little Parmesan or Asiago on top when you serve it. Kudos!

This soup was surprisingly bland given the fresh herbs and bacon. I used homemade chicken stock so maybe I should have added more salt. I served this with a slice of the Irish Brown Soda Bread from the March 2010 issue. I probably won't make this soup again because it was labor intensive in terms of chopping and the flavor payoff wasn't that big.

This is a decent soup; nothing terribly special but nice for a cold evening when you're feeling snifflly. I found the bacon didn't really add much to it, so I'd probably just leave it out if I make the soup again. I added a can of diced tomatoes for some extra flavor, and drizzled some olive oil on top along with the cheese. I think it might brighten the flavor to use some more parsley than called for and just stir it in at the end rather than boiling it.

This recipe was a lot of work with a lot of ingredients, but it was very very good.