Years ago, my mom and I would shell huge bags of “gourganes” to make soupe aux gourganes, a very filling soup, perfect for chilly winter days. Great with cheezy biscuits! I was thrilled to find gourganes in the frozen foods section at Adonis.
These hearty, flavourful beans are also known as fèves des marais, broad beans, wetland beans or fava beans, although I’m not sure that fava bean is an accurate name. These extra large beans turn brown once cooked, and have an almost beefy flavour, perfect with a grilled cheese sandwich. This is a very simple Lac-Saint-Jean family recipe, which takes me back to my roots… and yes, I am actually a bleuet du Lac-Saint-Jean, from the Tremblay line. 🙂
Ingredients
1 bag frozen broad beans (fava) 750 g/1.65 pounds
8 cups vegetable broth
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
2 bay leafs
¼ cup barley (alternatively, rice, steel cut oats)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Place all ingredients in large pot.
Bring to a boil. Simmer about 45 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
