Sopa de Ajo
Castilian Garlic and Bread Soup with Egg
Stale bread, garlic, paprika and stock, with an egg poached in the bowl at the end. It was born of having nothing else in the house, and it is still what Castile eats on a cold night. The quantities double easily.
The Spanish recipe read fries the bread first, browns a little chorizo and ham, softens sliced garlic gently for two to three minutes, adds paprika and stock, returns the bread and simmers for ten minutes until it has softened. Eggs go in for the last two minutes.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 8 thin slices of day-old baguette or country bread (about 80 g)
- 1 small cooking chorizo (about 60 g), sliced
- 75 g jamón serrano, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika
- 500 ml hot beef or chicken stock
- 2 eggs
- Fine sea salt
Method
- Fry the bread Heat the oil in a wide saucepan over a medium heat. Fry the bread for 1 to 2 minutes a side until golden. Lift out and set aside.
- Brown the meats and garlic Fry the chorizo and ham in the same oil for 2 minutes. Lower the heat, add the garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until soft and pale gold.
- Add paprika and stock Take the pan off the heat and stir in both paprikas for 10 seconds, then pour in the hot stock at once so that the paprika does not burn. Return to the heat.
- Simmer Add the fried bread and simmer gently for 10 minutes, until it has swollen and begun to break up. Taste for salt.
- Add the eggs Crack the eggs onto the surface, cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still soft. Serve at once.
Food safety
The yolks are soft. Use British Lion-marked eggs, or cook the eggs for 5 minutes until firm.
Paprika scorches in seconds in hot oil. Always add it off the heat and follow it with liquid.