A delicious creamy green soup showcasing the humble broad bean!
The first time I’d ever tried broad beans was in a Moroccan inspired chicken tagine recipe some years ago. The only broad beans I could find at the time were frozen ones – and they were awful; tough, rubbery, inedible. These supermarket brand frozen broad beans put me off the notion of broad beans for some time.
That was until a few years ago when fresh broad beans began appearing in my veg box. These lovely gigantic beans are so much fun to work with! I’ve since learned that broad beans should be double podded. The whole family come out of their respective hiding places to pod the giant beans for the first go, and then I’m left to finish them off, simmering them for four minutes, draining and then plunging the beans into cold water. The second layer of pale green slides right off, revealing a gorgeous vibrant green bean with a tiny tail.
Fridays are veg box days, and so Fridays have been designated Smorgasbord Friday and I get a day off from cooking. We get a fresh loaf of something in our veg box from a local start up bakery – either a rosemary and sea salt focaccia, or a gorgeous beremeal loaf made with a heritage six-row barley brought to Shetland and Orkney by the Vikings way back when. Sometimes we get a surprise loaf, depending on what they’ve baked.
On Fridays I lay out a spread of cheese, cold meats, olives, olive oil with balsamic to dip, and as much fresh produce from our veg box as I can – peas straight from the pod, mixed salad leaves, cucumber slices, tomatoes, etc. It’s all really rather lovely, and involves very little work. It’s a lot healthier than popping a frozen pizza in the oven too.
Last Friday I bought some lovely Gouda cheese for our meal. The leftovers of which were needing used up and so I grated it and made this lovely green soup which, I have to say, I am really rather pleased with – a perfect comfort food for a rainy summer’s day. Alternatively, if you store leftover Parmesan or Grana Padano rinds in the freezer like I do, you could pop one into this soup instead of the Gouda.
Broad Bean & Courgette Soup with Gouda
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 onions coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2-3 courgettes coarsely chopped (see recipe notes)
- 1 pint vegetable stock
- 150 grams fresh broad beans podded weight
- 1 tbsp fresh mint leaves chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh basil leaves torn
- 100 grams Gouda grated (see recipe notes)
- s Shetland sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
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Instructions
- Heat oil in a medium soup pot over a medium heat.
- Gently saute the onion for five minutes, until it softens but does not colour.
- Add the garlic and courgettes and cook for a further two minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the vegetable stock and pop the lid on the pot. Leave to simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Meanwhile, boil the broad beans for four minutes. Drain and plunge them into some cold water. Remove the pale green skins and set the vibrant green broad beans aside.
- A few minutes before the end of the cooking time add the chopped mint and torn basil to the soup pot. Leave the soup to cool for a few minutes and then puree with a hand blender until smooth.
- Stir in the grated Gouda and the broad beans and reheat the soup. Do not allow to boil.
- Season to taste and serve with plenty of crusty bread.
Notes
LINKING UP WITH A FEW FOOD BLOGGING CHALLENGES
No Croutons Required by Tinned Tomatoes
Tasty Tuesdays by Honest Mum
Cooking with Herbs by Lavender & Lovage
Eat Your Greens by Allotment 2 Kitchen
Extra Veg by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy, guest hosted by Jen’s Food
No Waste Food Challenge & Shop Local by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
OTHER BROAD BEAN RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE
Broad Bean & Courgette Salad by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Bób – Fava Bean Snack Polish Way by Coffee & Vanilla
Freekeh, Broad Bean, Broccoli, Thyme & Soft Cheese Broth by Kellie’s Food to Glow
Broad Bean Crostini by Cook Sister
Minted Bulgur Wheat With Fennel & Apple by The Veg Space
Summer Green Soup with Parsley & Almond Pesto by Tin & Thyme
Broad Bean Risotto by Penelope’s Pantry
Moroccan Lamb Stew by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
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Kohlrabi & Cucumber Quencher
Excellent soup. However I added some cannellini beans and frozen petit pois and some chili flakes to the other ingredients. All in all very tasty.
I had it with a grilled brioche bun with mature chedder.
I will definitely make it again.
Lovely recipe, would recommend.
These are what we call Fava beans in US and Fèves in France… they are lovely. Italians do them in wonderful ways.
Now this looks really really yummy!! Thank you
Inspirational ! I would like to try this with mange tout in place of the broad beans. What do you think ?
what a beautifully coloured soup. I often have a glut of courgettes and broad beans in the summer, I must remember to come back and find this recipe.
I was given a soup maker for Christmas so I’m looking for ideas that are a bit different from the norm. This sounds fab.
This looks lovely. Thank you for taking part in #SuperSoup
A delicious creamy green soup showcasing the humble broad bean! The first time I’d ever tried broad beans was in my home.Yum! Looking really healthy, Thanks.
I love cheese with soup! I have pinned this recipe as we always grow courgettes and broad beans and this sounds like a delicious way to use them x #CookBlogShare
Sorry popped over from #SuperSoup x
Lokks so fresh and tasty. I love a good soup.
This looks great and very healthy, the sort of healthy that makes me regret the sponge treacle with lashings of cream I just wolfed down…. gulp.
What a stunning looking soup. I am completely mesmerized by the vibrance and I can only image just how fresh it tastes too.
Got plenty of courgettes, have to try this.
Broad beans are very popular where I live! And I have some courgettes in my kitchen so will be trying this recipe!
I never tried fresh broad beans until recently and I thought they were great. I think you are right, and the broad bean misconception is around frozen tasteless ones. I’d really like to give this a go as I love making soup to take to work. It looks yummy.
Sally @ Life Loving
I didn’t know that about double shelling! This soup looks fantastic 🙂
I know what you mean about frozen broad beans, eek. You cannot beat fresh. This soup is really lush. I haven’t had soup in a long while, but if I could have one right now, this would be it. Thanks for sharing with #EatYourGreens
I grow broad beans as this is the only way to make sure those you serve are delicious. I have never thought of making a soup like this although I do throw them into my minestrone soups.
Beautiful green soup. I used to hate broad beans as my grandma never double podded and she always ended up with big tough ones from the garden. I was converted to broad beans in my veg boxes a couple of years ago, am going to have to try this soup soon. Thanks for sharing with #ExtraVeg 🙂
Oh what a beautiful green soup. Love the flavours and the cheese! Delicious. thanks for linking up to #extraveg
I had horrible early experiences with broad beans (did you call them fava beans as well in Canada?) but happily now only eat the small ones that are still bright chartreuse when cooked rather than that horrible bitter fray. Ugh. This is very lovely way to treat homegrown and veg box broad beans. Gouda is a very lush addition.
Oh wow – I love the vibrant green colour of that soup! I came to borad beans rather late in life after a visit to southern Spain where I had habas con jamon and it was love at first bite 🙂 Thanks for linking to my recipe too!
I dot tend to cook with broad beans so much – You have just reminded me to make more with them.
This looks delicious and I love the cheese addition. Yummy!
This soup looks amazing I love broad beans so delicious!http://www.fadedspring.co.uk
The soup looks so delicious Elizabeth! I grew up eating broad beans in the Middle East. We have both green and brown and they’re used in different dishes. The green are usually cooked with rice and dill and the brown are usually eaten with eggs and bread for breakfast. Never thought of using them in a soup though, need to give it a try! 😀
lovely recipe – i love a bit of cheese in a soup, never used gouda so will try this one out!
I love broad beans and I haven’t made anything with them for so long. I am going to have to make this at the weekend. It’s a proper delicious autumn recipe x
This soup looks lovely and fresh and full of vitamins. Must bookmark this to make for hubby
Thanks 🙂 It’s really simple to make too, which is a bonus!