Sopa De Ajo - Castilian Garlic Soup

Submitted by Annacia

"Sopa de ajo is a very old, peasant-style dish and is typical of the Castilla-Leon region , where the winters are cold and soups and stews are eaten daily. Castilla is the "land of bread" and it is bought fresh daily. However, a Spanish cook would never serve it stale, so this recipe is a good way to use any stale bread that is left over from yesterday’s meals."

 

• Ready In: 26mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1⁄3 cup olive oil
• 3 1⁄2 ounces of cured Spanish ham (Subsitute cured ham like Virginia ham)
• 2 -3 slices day-old French bread, medium size - 4 x 2-1/2 x 1-inch
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 6 eggs
• 1 quart water
• salt (to taste)

directions

1. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan.
2. Add not-too-thinly sliced garlic.
3. Before the garlic turns brown, add the cubed ham and the slices of bread.
4. Sauté for a few minutes on medium heat.
5. Add the sweet paprika, followed by the water and salt.
6. Bring to a slow boil.
7. Boil for 5-10 minutes.
8. To poach the eggs, carefully add eggs to the soup one at a time.
9. Scoop out poached eggs one at a time into soup bowls. Then, slowly ladle the soup into each bowl.

Reviews

[MarraMamba]

I really enjoyed the flavor of this soup and having the poached egg in it was perfect. I used Paula G' microwave poached egg recipe with the soup instead of water to make the eggs so it was even easier. The one thing i will do differently next time is to saute the bread slices with everything, add the water then remove the bread until the end and put it back in (perhaps leaving one piece in during the whole soup cooking stage) for the last two minutes so it keeps some body to it.. I just found that I preferred the bread a little oomphier. I suspected i would so added an extra piece to the saute cut in half and removed it, which is why its in the picture looking fairly whole.