Barley Soup Rassolnik with pickles

First, we need to cook the pearl barley.
Rinse the pearl barley under running water until it's clean. Put it in a medium pot and add water in a ratio of 1:3. Cook over low heat for 50 minutes (if you soak the pearl barley in water overnight, the cooking time will be reduced).
Drain the water and rinse the cooked pearl barley with clean water. You can do this in advance, a day or two before.

Next, we make the broth.
Rinse the meat. You can use any meat you like: beef, pork, or poultry. For a richer broth, use meat with bones. Place the meat in a pot and cover it with cold water.
The ingredients for the broth are always covered with cold water to allow all the juices to come out gradually as the temperature rises.
When it boils, remove the foam. Add 1 whole onion, 1 carrot, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Cook the meat over low heat until it's fully cooked (about 50-70 minutes).
Do not add salt to the broth, as it will make it cloudy.
When the meat is done, remove all the vegetables and strain the broth. Cut the meat into bite pieces.

Saute the vegetables.
Cut the onion into small cubes. Heat a frying pan, add a little vegetable oil, and add the onion. Saute the onion until it's translucent, stirring occasionally to prevent it from burning. Cut the carrots into pieces according to your preference.
Add them to the softened onions, mix well, and fry together for 3 minutes.
Add the diced celery. Stir.
Then, cut the pickles into small cubes, add them to the onions and carrots, and saute for about 4 minutes.
Add tomato paste and saute for another 3 minutes over low heat.
Add 1 ladle of meat broth and simmer all the vegetables covered for about 7 minutes over low heat until the pickles are softened.
Turn off the heat.

Finish the soup.
Return the broth to the pot where it was cooked. Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces and add them to the broth. Cook for 10 minutes until the potatoes are done.
When the potatoes are cooked, add the prepared pearl barley (rinsed), the cooked sauteed vegetables, and the meat pieces.
Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, check for salt (we didn't add salt because the pickles were salty), and if needed add salt, pepper, bay leaves, crushed garlic, and spices according to your taste. Turn off the heat and let the soup stand for about 30 minutes. Serve with parsley and sour cream.