Garlic soup, or sopa de ajo, is a hearty soup which fills the belly and comforts the soul. There are a few variations and some restaurants will call it Sopa Castellano in order to make it sound fancier. We served ours with manchego cheese and tomato bread for a delicious lunch.
Hola, Chef Jose Andres!
This week the bloggers at I Heart Cooking Clubs say hello to the latest featured chef: Jose Andres! As a lover of Spanish cuisine, I’m excited to recreate his innovative recipes. I appreciate how he has adapted his recipes to suit ingredients available in the United States.
Spanish cuisine can be very complex, particularly the tapas. However, in my experience, the most popular foods are considered comfort food or peasant food in other parts of the world. Where we lived in Valladolid people lined up for a cup full of broth. After, they’d head down the street for a bowl of lentils at another place. All washed down with a bold Spanish wine or glass of beer, of course!
Can you tell I’m feeling nostalgic for Spain?
That’s why I’m starting my exploration of Jose Andres’ recipes with simple things to make: like garlic soup and tomato bread.
Call it Garlic Soup, Sopa de Ajo or Sopa Castellano. Just call me when it’s ready!
You will find sopa de ajo and pan con tomate served all over Spain everyday in homes and restaurants. Pan con tomate is eaten for breakfast or as a snack. Sopa de ajo is a frugal and delicious way to use up any leftover bread.
You’ll want to use a hearty bread for your garlic soup. It needs to be able to hold up to cooking without breaking down.
My mother-in-law always tore her bread into bite sized pieces and let it sit on the counter for several hours. Rick, my husband, does the same and so do I. I don’t know if it was Carmen’s attempt to “age” fresh bread or a time saving measure on her part, but it’s how the family does it. If you skip that step I don’t think it will matter.
Aside from the addition of wine in Jose Andres’ recipe, another difference is the use of whole eggs, drizzled in near the end of the cooking time like egg drop soup. Carmen’s version of sopa de ajo uses the yolks for a creamy broth with a lovely color.
I have fond memories of sitting next to the aqueduct in Segovia while eating a bowl of Sopa Castellano estilo Segovia. It looked and tasted very much like Jose Andres’ version from Saveur.com.
Tomato Bread
Growing up, a summer pleasure was to eat tomato sandwiches. I didn’t know pan con tomate existed until we moved overseas, but it quickly became a favorite breakfast.
Simply grate the flesh of a tomato and season with salt. The addition of parsley is optional. When served in a restaurant, you’ll have a plate of toast, the tomato, some olive oil and a salt shaker.
If desired, drizzle some olive oil over the toast, then spread the tomato and season with salt. Fantastic!
When fresh tomatoes aren’t available, my café owning friends use good quality canned tomatoes and a stick blender. The end result is a little thinner, and may need to be strained, but it’s still tasty.
Definitely better than nothing on a nice piece of toast…
I hope you’ll give garlic soup and tomato bread a try. It’s one of those meals that can be quickly assembled from a well stocked pantry.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 10 cloves garlic (a good sized head), peeled and thinly sliced
- 6 oz hearty bread (about half of a one pound loaf), torn into bite sized pieces
- 1 tbsp pimentón de la vera or smoky paprika
- ½ cup dry white wine (optional)
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
- chopped parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Assemble the ingredients before you begin as the soup comes together rather quickly.
- Heat the olive oil in a sturdy bottomed pot large enough to comfortably hold about 2 quarts. Reduce the heat to medium then add the sliced garlic and stir until golden brown. Stir constantly and/or remove the pot from the heat to prevent the garlic from over browning.
- Add the bread and paprika and continue to cook and stir for several minutes in order to lightly toast the bread. Stir in the wine and continue to cook until it has been absorbed by the bread.
- Add the stock, bring to a low boil. Drizzle the beaten egg while stirring the soup to create ribbons of cooked egg. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley at the table.
Notes
Be sure to drop by I Heart Cooking Clubs to see how the other bloggers have chosen to welcome Chef Jose Andres!
You sold them to me: the garlic soup and the tomato bread. Tomato bread was a revelation because it’s served everywhere in Spain. Thanks for sharing your food experience while living in Spain.