Scotch Broth

This soup just tastes like home to me, although it is a traditional Scottish soup.  I made it with beef because I had a lot of pot roast leftover, but this would be just as good if not better with lamb.

600g leftover roast beef or lamb         
1 leek, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
2 onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
olive oil
3 litres beef stock
1 small swede, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large potato, peeled and roughly chopped
80 g pearl barley
salt and ground white pepper

Put the leek, celery, onions and carrots into a large saucepan, add a splash of olive oil and sweat them on a low heat for about 20 minutes, until they are softened and starting to sweeten. Add the beef stock and bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Add the swede, potato and pearl barley, then simmer slowly for a further 50 minutes.

Take the pot off the hob and whisk the broth quite hard to break down some of the potato and bind the soup together. Stir in the pieces of beef and season well with salt and white pepper.