Garlic soups or Castilian soup

How to make garlic soups .

We already have the cold at the door and Christmas practically on top.

The body asks us for soup recipes and it is what we have to cook.

A few days ago I presented you with one of my favorites,  onion soup . Today’s is one of the most humble and famous recipes of Spanish gastronomy, garlic soups or Castilian soup.

Essential at Easter and frequent breakfast in many areas of the Spanish countryside.

Our grandmothers and mothers already prepared for us this very natural, traditional and comforting dish. Garlic, bread, paprika, water and a little ham were enough for them to remain gawking at the fire. Always looking at the casserole to see if they were ready for dinner.

I recommend a good bowl of garlic soups for dinner, the first tablespoon of soup already puts the heat into the body. Its touch of garlic and its aroma of paprika reminds me of dinners watching TV at my cousin Miriam’s house.

Today I leave you with her recipe, although I don’t know why, they never come out 100% like her … I’m sure she has some secret that she hasn’t revealed to me.

This comforting soup deserves a place on your weekly fall and winter menu, I hope you enjoy it.

Preparation of garlic soups

1. Peel and fillet the garlic, it does not need to be very fine.
2. Garlic must give odor and also provide the emulsion between water and oil for the soup to be excellent. We reserve in a bowl.
3. We choose a large casserole, heat the oil in the bottom and introduce the garlic.
4. We sauté until they start to take on a golden color (but be careful that they don’t come off).
5. We also add the ham cut into small pieces. Stir with a wooden spoon in an enveloping manner until the flavors are well combined.
6. When the garlic is toasted honey color, add 6 slices of hard bread and give it a few laps. Remove the casserole from the heat and sprinkle with the sweet paprika.
7. I like it that way although many people do it with hot paprika.
8. The paprika fulfills a double function: it colors the bread red and also provides aroma.
9. To do this with the casserole out of the fire to prevent the paprika from burning. And that everything is left with an unpleasant bitter taste that would spoil the soup.

Cooking garlic soups

1. We remove everything well and that the oil is combined with the garlic, ham, hard bread and paprika.
2. We put the saucepan back on the fire and add the broth or water. It depends on the size of the casserole, but with 3 liters it arrives.
3. The broth should always be low. Because the trick of this soup is that the water or the broth never starts to boil during the cooking process.
4. We fry everything for 2-3 more minutes and without stopping stirring, add the meat stock.
5. If you do not have broth it can also be done only with water. You will be very similar, not so powerful but very good in flavor.
6. We cook over moderate heat for about 20 minutes, in that time it is not necessary to stir the soup.
7. After 20 minutes we add the rest of the bread, the other 6 slices that we have previously toasted with a little extra virgin olive oil.
8. We place on the surface and let them float until they soften.
9. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper.
10. We taste the broth before adding the salt since depending on the amount of ham and how salty it may not be necessary.

Final presentation of garlic soups

1. We break the eggs and add them to the soup. I usually add one egg per diner but it depends on each one, if you want two or three … to your liking.
2. Let it curdle for 2-3 minutes. Another option is to separate the whites from the yolks and add only the whites to the soup.
3. The yolk is then put on each plate, it is cooked with the heat of the soup.
4. When we add the soup to the bowl the yolk mixes with the soup and it is delicious.
5. The egg will remain either in the form of a spun egg or in poached pieces.

We serve very hot in a bowl or if we have in clay pots (it is the same). Take advantage! They are made very fast and their elaboration is simple.

A very complete soup that you can tune as you like. You can add ham, chorizo, fried bacon, bonito … etc., a little depending on the tastes of each one.

Tips for some yummy garlic soups

• They say that the crust of bread can spoil the recipe, which is why in many bakeries when Easter comes they sell soup bread. I have not noticed the difference, I imagine it will be because of the type of bread.
• The best bread for these soups is Castilian bread, made of white wheat. The bread slices are usually between 5 to 15 millimeters so that the soup thickens when the bread softens.
• A bay leaf does very well in cooking. And one of the most important recommendations, as I was saying, is that the broth never starts to boil during the cooking process.
• And finally it goes without saying that what differentiates ordinary garlic soups from extraordinary garlic soups are the ingredients: ham, oil, garlic, a good paprika … they make the difference.

Your garlic soups

• Juanjo does not comment that his are from aúpa. “I prepare them for the maragata, much poorer, as my grandparents always did: In a saucepan, the necessary water is heated according to diners.
• Once it boils, add a garlic sauce (to taste) without the central germ to which salt, olive oil, a thimble of daub and paprika (sweet or spicy) are added. Let it boil for 5 minutes, add a couple of beaten eggs that quickly set.
• Remove from the heat and add the migado dough (preferably the loaf of bread). Serve hot in clay pots and eat with a wooden spoon or sips.
• In the end, there were those who cleaned the pot with a stream of wine. If the soup was made with broth from a pot of potatoes with meat, bacon, jerky and chorizo, then it was indescribable. ”
• From Pueblica de Valverde, a small but beautiful town in Zamora, Jose Furones. He has sent me his, he tells me that they are much poorer than mine but also very rich.
• The only ingredients are: Loaf of bread for a few days to easily cut it into thin slices, garlic, lard. It also serves olive oil of course, sweet paprika, a pinch of spice – to taste – it gives a very good complement of flavor and water.
• If we prepare them for 4-6 people (depending on what they eat) we need: Between 3 a ½ kg loaf: 1 ½ kg loaf, 4 garlic cloves – depending on how strong you like them, 3 tablespoons of paprika coffee sweet or bittersweet (if you like it hot), a pinch of hot paprika (if you put sweet paprika) and 2.5 to 3 l of water, you can leave them a little soupy or dry … to suit everyone.

Preparation of soups from Pueblica de Valverde

1. We cut the bread into very very thin slices and put them in the clay pot. We boil the water and mash the garlic and salt in the mortar, leaving it very very fine.
2. We add the butter (preferably Iberian) or extra virgin olive oil + paprika to the mashed. We mix the mashed well and when the water is about to boil, we stop the fire. Garlic should not boil, there is a saying by my people that it says: ” boiled garlic, lost garlic “. We add the mashed, separating a saucepan of water to “wash” the mortar (nothing should be lost).
3. Mix well and pour over the bread.

You will enjoy soups with a total garlic flavor. The flavor is greatly influenced by the quality of the paprika. And logically you can put an egg, ham, … before pouring the water + mashed but before I recommend you try them as is.

That if you have to like the taste of garlic, garlic, raw paprika, the taste of the mixture is really rich rich