Sopa de ajo (Castilian garlic soup)Spanish garlic soup

• 60 ml1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 75 g (optional)2.5 oz (optional) jamón serrano, in small dice
• 200 g7 oz stale country bread (pan de hogaza or other dense white loaf), in thin slices, a day or two old
• 2 tsp pimentón de la Vera (Spanish smoked paprika), sweet, or half sweet and half hot
• 1.2 L5 cups chicken or meat broth, or water, hot
• 4 eggs
• salt, to taste

Method

1. 1

   1. Warm the olive oil in a wide earthenware cazuela or heavy pot over medium-low heat.

2. 2

   2. Add the garlic and fry it gently for 2–3 minutes, until it is pale gold; it turns bitter if it browns.

3. 3

   3. Add the ham, if using, and stir for a minute.

4. 4

   4. Add the bread slices and turn them in the oil until they have soaked up the fat and are lightly toasted.

5. 5

   5. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the pimentón for a few seconds; it burns easily over a flame.

6. 6

   6. Pour in the hot broth or water at once, return the pot to the heat and simmer gently for 10–15 minutes, until the bread has softened and thickened the soup.

7. 7

   7. Season with salt.

8. 8

   8. Either crack the eggs onto the surface and let them poach for 2–3 minutes until the whites are set, or beat them and stir them into the simmering soup in thin threads.

9. 9

   9. Serve straight away, very hot, ideally in individual earthenware bowls.