Garmugia Lucchese is a traditional Tuscan spring soup from Lucca, a historic city in Tuscany. Unlike many classic Italian "poor dishes" like pappa al pomodoro or spaghetti aglio e olio , Garmugia was once considered a delicacy only wealthy people could afford.
Garmugia soup recipe dates back to the 17th century and features meat, spring vegetables and toasted bread as main protagonists of this dish.
Its name may derive from "germiglio" (Tuscan dialect for “sprout”), which could be a reference to the vegetables included in the ingredients.
As you will notice from the ingredients garmugia lucchese is a typical spring dish. Many people cook it for dinner as a natural remedy against spring colds.
So if you’re craving something warming for dinner tonight, read on to learn the recipe for this delicious, little-known spring soup.
Table Of Contents
How to Pronounce Garmugia?
In Italian, Garmugia is pronounced: "gar-MOO-jah"
Here’s a breakdown:
- Gar – like "car" with a soft g
- Moo – like the sound a cow makes
- Jah – like "jar" but with a soft a
How To Make Garmugia Tuscan Spring Soup - Step By Step
- In a large pot or dutch oven add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, spring onions and guanciale (pancetta) and cook on medium-low heat until the fat begins to melt.
- Add the ground meat.
- Let everything cook stirring often with a wooden spoon trying to break the meat.
- Start adding the vegetables. First, add the artichoke hearts. Let them soak up the flavors of the meat for a about a minute.
If you're using fresh artichokes here's a step by step process with pictures on How To Trim & Clean Fresh Artichokes easily.
- Pour in a couple of ladles of broth. If you don’t have broth use water but don’t forget to add salt to taste.
- Add fava beans and peas and cook until fava beans are half-cooked (about 7-10 minutes).
NOTE: If you're using frozen veggies they tend to cook a little longer to adjust cooking time accordingly.
- Add chopped asparagus (excluding the tips) and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Only when all the veggies are almost done add asparagus tips, as they cook very fast.
Serve garmugia hot or warm with toasted bread. You can also add drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and grated parmesan cheese.
Tips & Tricks
- Fresh or frozen veggies. You’ll get the best flavor if you use fresh veggies but you can also substitute some frozen veggies for fresh ones such as peas, fava beans or asparagus if they are not available.
- Water instead of broth. This soup is so rich and packed with veggies that instead of vegetable broth you can simply use bottled water. This way you can also save yourself some time and make this delicious spring soup is no time.
- Intimidated by fresh artichokes? Here you can find a step-by-step process with pictures on How To Clean & Trim Fresh Artichokes.
- Adjustable ingredients and ratios. Even though there’s a precise recipe to follow, you can always change the ingredient ratio to your taste and to the veggies you have available. For example, you can add a few more artichokes or use leek instead of spring onions.
- Soup-to-side dish variation. Following this soup recipe, you can slightly reduce the amount of liquid and omit the meat to turn it into a delicious side dish!
More Tuscan Recipes To Try
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Full Recipe
Garmugia (Irresistible Spring Soup From Tuscany)
Ingredients
- 2-4 spring onions or scallions , sliced
- ⅔ cup asparagus , trimmed and roughly chopped (about 100g)
- ⅔ cup fresh fava beans (about 100 g)
- ¾ cup green peas (about 100 g)
- 2 artichokes , sliced or quartered
- ½ packed cup ground veal or beef
- ½ cup guanciale or pancetta
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt , pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot or dutch oven add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, spring onions and guanciale (pancetta) and cook medium low heat until the fat begins to melt.
- Add the ground meat.
- Let everything cook stirring often with a wooden spoon trying to break the meat.
- Start adding the vegetables. First, add the artichoke hearts. Let them soak up the flavors of the meat for a about a minute.
- Pour in a couple of ladles of broth. If you don’t have broth use water and don’t forget to add salt to taste.
- Add fava beans and peas and cook until fava beans are half cooked (about 7-10 minutes).
- Add chopped asparagus (excluding the tips) and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Only when all the veggies are almost done add asparagus tips, as they cook very fast.
- Serve garmugia hot or warm with toasted bread, which some people prefer to cut into cube before toasted. If you like you can also add drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and grated parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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