Barley And Borlotti Bean Soup

Preparation:

Preparation: Clean the barley and the beans and let them macerate separately in two terrines filled with cold water for 12 hours. Peel the potato, wash it and cut it into pieces. Put the beans, the potato and the bay leaf in a saucepan, pour in 1 and a half liters of water, bring to the boil and cook for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Put the barley in another saucepan, pour 1 liter of water, salt it, bring it to the boil and continue cooking for 1 hour. In the meantime, peel the onion and chop it; peel the celery, remove the filaments and wash it; wash the sage and rosemary and chop them together with the celery. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, peel them, remove the seeds and the vegetable water, then chop them; peel the garlic. Put the oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and let them dry without letting them colour. Add the chopped celery, sage and rosemary and finally the chopped tomatoes. Saute the tomatoes for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the mixture to the beans, add salt and finish cooking; drain half of it and pass it through a vegetable mill; put the puree in the cooking pot, add the drained barley and a pinch of freshly ground pepper. Stir and bring to a boil again. Serve the soup piping hot.