soup - garlic, quick
t=teaspoon T=tablespoon
These recipes are for your personal use only and may not be added in any form to archives other works.
Toasted Garlic Soup Provençal - a quick, healthy, healing soup from the
Mediterranean
Not at all like the white Italian garlic soup Zuppa d' Aglio,
this is (not so modestly) one of my own favourite recipes - not quite French and
not quite the Spanish 'sopa de ajo' but unique and very, very more-ish! Don't let the ingredients
list intimidate you. This is a quick soup of just garlic, stock, almonds, bread
and herbs. Oh yes, and a good splash of red wine too! Gently toasting the
garlic until golden and almost creamy mellows the flavours and brings to the
fore its natural sweetness. While they toast, the broth is heating with
the rest of the ingredients.
Some garlic soups made with just water taste rather insipid - the
key to this one is the stock and the red wine (or sherry).
about 4 generous servings
All you need is:
8 cloves of garlic (depends on freshness and preference - add more or less if you
wish)
small handful of almonds, without skin (about 10)
750 ml. strong chicken stock*
750 ml. water
(or 1-1/2 litre light chicken stock)
1 good sprig thyme (about 2 sm. sprigs or 1/4 t. dried), add a little more if
you like at the last 5 min. of cooking
1 good sprig of parsley (about as long or longer than the length of a hand)
1 good T. finely chopped parsley leaves
1 clove (the spice)
1 lg. bay leaf
1 t. sweet paprika (smoky Spanish, if you can find it - see note below)
2 t. sweet paprika paste (optional - see note)
1 small ripe tomato
9 thin slices day old bread such as baguette
80 mls. dry red wine, or dry sherry (about a generous half a small glass)
1 sm. egg (not crucial, but very nice)
salt
freshly grated
pepper
a teaspoon or so of olive oil
optional: grated Manchego cheese (a hard Spanish cheese),
Pecorino or Parmesan cheese to add at the table.
Set the water and stock to heat with the sprig of parsley, bay leaves, clove and
thyme.
Crumble a slice of dried bread and place in a mortar (if you do not have one,
see notes below).
Remove the skins from the garlic (reserve one clove to be added at the
end) cut into halves. Coarsely chop the almonds and using a heavy non-stick pan,
pan roast them with the garlic in
the hot olive oil. Reduce the heat to medium and allow them to toast to a light
brown. Stir now and again being careful they do not turn dark. Remove
immediately to the mortar (with the bread) and using the pestle, crush and grind to a paste. Add
to the stock.
Warm the same pan you toasted the garlic in and add the paprika. Toast, stirring
for a few moments until you smell the aroma. Immediately add a little stock to
prevent the paprika from burning and add this, scraping the pan, into the stock.
Add the the chopped tomato and the paprika paste (aiver will do, or a small tin
of roasted sweet red peppers, pureed with a little stock) and allow all to
simmer gently 15 minutes then add the red wine. Allow to continue to simmer for
another 5 minutes.
Lift out the herbs from the stock and discard. Add the reserved clove of minced
garlic, the chopped parsley, stir and remove the pot from the heat. Taste and
adjust for salt if necessary. Grate in a little black pepper.
Allow the soup to
rest for a few moments off the heat source (this is important if you plan to add
the egg otherwise the mass will curdle if the soup is too hot) while you prepare the bowls.
Place two slices of day old
bread such as baguette in warmed deep bowls.
Beat the egg in a small bowl and add about half a ladle of soup, stirring
quickly then add another ladle. Stir this egg mass into the slightly cooled soup and stir. The egg will thicken the
soup slightly. If you prefer, you can return the pot to a low fire for a few minutes to
'curdle' the egg mass.
Ladle the hot soup over the bread.
Serve with a good red wine and more fresh bread!
Notes: the vegetarian version of this is to replace the chicken stock with a good
vegetable stock. A mortar and pestle crushes ingredients, merging their
flavours, but you can use a blender (which finely 'cuts' or purees) - not quite
the same but it will do. Add a little stock into the blender then the crumbled
bread, garlic and almonds. Blend until some texture remains. Do not blend until
smooth.
Spanish Smokey Paprika: it is worth trying to locate this exquisite
paprika. It is intense, deep, sweet spicy and smoked usually over oak wood. This
recipe uses the sweet smokey paprika, but it also comes in bittersweet and hot. I
prefer it for most of my Spanish/Mediterranean dishes that call for it. You can,
however use sweet Hungarian if you cannot locate it. Get to know both - there
are times when one is preferable over the other - such as Hungarian paprika for
Hungarian Gulash. If the smokey paprika is too 'smokey' for you, use half
smokey and half (normal) sweet paprika.
Toasting the garlic first gives them a wonderful flavour, almost sweet and of
course toasted almonds are just delicious. However, ensure that neither turn too
dark nor burn as they will become bitter and you will have to start over.
Besides the red wine, the real secret to this dish is the addition of a little more
minced fresh garlic clove at the end.
Variation: add a small piece of Serrano or Parma ham, chopped finely to the soup
as it simmers. A few leaves of sage is also very good with this soup.
*If you don't have chicken stock make a stock using one of my Chicken Soup
recipes, omitting of course noodles, garlic or rice listed in the ingredients.
The end result of this soup is always dependent on the quality of the stock,
whether it is strong or weak. Even skinless chicken breast and a leg to
750 ml. water simmered for half an hour is better than 'just' water (use the
meat for a chicken salad). Of course a good vegetable stock can also be used in
place of the chicken stock.
All recipes are excerpts from "Welcome to My Kitchen" - The Epicurean Table and are copyright of the author. Recipes are not to be
added to any form of archive or other works of any kind. Contact the author for further information.
The Epicurean Table © 1999-2006 Patricia Conant