Lamb Tomato and Barley Soup

First week of maternity leave and I don't know what to do with myself before nine AM. Fourteen years of school and hospital schedules, and now I'm standing in my kitchen at eight-fifteen with coffee and no place I have to be and it feels genuinely bizarre. Thirty-six weeks. Liam could technically arrive any time in the next four weeks and my body is starting to register that information through channels I would describe as persistent and uncomfortable.

I cleaned the apartment on Monday. Then I reorganized the nursery on Tuesday. Then I made a week's worth of food on Wednesday because I needed somewhere to put the energy. I made chicken stock from scratch, which I haven't done in years because I never have six hours on a Tuesday. Stood at the stove and skimmed the stock for an hour and felt genuinely calm for the first time in weeks.

Meghan came over on Thursday and we sat in the living room and she gave me the rundown on what to actually expect the first week with a newborn, with the specificity of someone who has done it twice. Not the version from the books—the real version. I took notes. She said "you know all the clinical stuff but the clinical stuff doesn't cover the part where you're crying at four AM and you don't know why and neither does he." I said I'd been crying at four AM for months. She said "great, you're already prepared."

Sean comes home from work and finds the apartment reorganized in some new configuration and just adapts. He doesn't ask. He sees the nesting for what it is. Thursday he came home and I'd rearranged the living room furniture and he said "looks good" and sat down and that was it. I love him very specifically for that.

That Wednesday—the day I made the stock—I knew I needed to keep going, to actually use what I’d made before the calm wore off. This lamb, tomato, and barley soup was the answer: something that needed tending, something that would fill the apartment with smell, something that would sit in the fridge and be there for the weeks ahead when standing at the stove for six hours would no longer be an option. It’s the kind of soup that rewards patience, which felt right.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 40 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, with juices
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups chicken or beef stock (homemade preferred)
3/4 cup pearl barley, rinsed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

Brown the lamb. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the lamb cubes with salt and pepper. Working in two batches to avoid crowding, brown the lamb on all sides, about 3–4 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Sauté the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.
Build the soup. Return the lamb to the pot along with any accumulated juices. Add the diced tomatoes, stock, barley, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
Simmer low and slow. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is tender and the barley has swelled and thickened the broth.
Finish and season. Remove the bay leaf. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. If the soup has thickened more than you like, stir in an additional 1/2 to 1 cup of stock or water.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and finish with a handful of fresh parsley. Soup keeps refrigerated for up to 5 days and freezes well for up to 3 months.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lamb Tomato and Barley Soup — The Soup I Made When I Finally Had Time