Name: Garbure Gasconne (Gascon Vegetable Soup)
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: toasted croûtes made with ½ slim baguette, brushed with melted butter; 1 cup/100 g grated gruyère cheese; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley; 2 legs confit de canard; salt and pepper; 2 quarts/2 liters veal or chicken broth or water, more if needed; ¼ head green cabbage (about 1 pound/450 g), shredded; 2 large carrots, thinly sliced; 2 or 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced; 5 or 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 2 waxy potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced; 3 leeks (about 1 pound/450 g total), white part only, thinly sliced; 3 tablespoons/45 g butter; 1 turnip, thinly sliced; 1 small carrot; 1 onion, studded with 2 whole cloves; 1 bouquet garni; ¾ cup/275 g dried white kidney beans, preferably cannellini

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Country Cooking of France

By Anne Willan

Published 2007

About

Garbure is an archetypal hearty country soup found in Gascony, the southwestern region of France famous for its gourmandise. Almost any vegetable that can be simmered in broth can go into it. When ham, salt pork, or goose confit is added, it transcends mere soup, becoming a stew that is thick enough to support a spoon upright. Elaborate versions may be served in two stages: first comes a broth, then a gratin of simmered vegetables and meats. I enjoy this simpler version of beans and sliced