Madrileno Garlic Soup

A community recipe by StoupaTart

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

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Introduction

When there was literally nothing in the house but garlic and stale bread this soup was made. The addition of a poached egg was a luxury, sometimes reserved for the head of the family. As I'm combining several recipes here, you'll see that there are no strict rules about this. Experiment and enjoy! Because there are so few ingredients, it's really important to use the best possible quality.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

2 heads of garlic (between 8 cloves and 2 heads, according to taste - peeled)
extra virgin olive oil
4 slices bread (crusty bread, thick slices)
6 cups hot water
sea salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
½ teaspoon cumin (optional)
1 pinch of saffron (optional)

Method

Madrileno Garlic Soup is a community recipe submitted by StoupaTart and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 240Â°.

Fry the garlic in the oil to soften and brown. Remove from the pan and fry the bread.

If using spices (I prefer it without), remove bread from pan whilst frying them, then return bread to pan.

Crush the cooked garlic coarsely.

Add the hot water to the pan with the garlic and salt to taste.

Simmer for 10 minutes.

Ladle into 4 heatproof bowls. Add an egg to each bowl and put in the oven for 3-4 minutes to set the egg.

Additional Information

Santayana suggests the luxurious addition of 4 slices of cheese "cut so thin that the children would hold it up to the light, to admire its transparency, and wink at one another through the frequent round holes". I prefer the simplicity of the poor man's soup.