Mushroom Barley Soup

Ingredients
For the Beef Stock:
7 cups of water
2 lbs of beef shank cut into pieces
3 3 ribs of celery cut into large chunks
1 whole bunch of parsley
6 cloves of garlic lightly crushed
1 large onion cut into quarters
4 large carrots cut into chunks
1 can of tomato paste
salt & pepper to taste

Sear the beef shank pieces in olive oil in the stock pan.  Then add in the water and the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer over low heat for about 4 hours.  Add more water as it reduces.

Strain the stock and discard the vegetables.

For the Soup:
2/3 Cup of pearl barley
1 lb of sliced mushrooms
1 cup of finely diced carrots
1 cup of finely diced onion
1 cup of finely diced celery
3 cloves of finely minced garlic (feel free to omit this)
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil
Spice Blend: 1 teaspoon each of garlic granules, onion granules and aleppo pepper

In a large soup pot heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add in the diced vegetables & mushrooms.  Cook until the onions are soft and translucent.  Sprinkle in your spice blend.   Ladle in the stock.  Add the pearl barley and the tomato paste.  Simmer on low until the barley is tender.  I let mine cook about an hour so all the flavors would come together.

I made my soup very brothy, but you can put in less stock if you like a thicker soup.