This is a recipe for garlic soup, sopa de ajo – a classic Basque and western Spain dish. Basque housewives believe in “waste not, want not” so this is an excellent and very tasty way to use (and not waste) old bread!
A number of other versions using different ingredients, such as crushed almond meat as the thickening agent instead of old bread, also appear in the Spanish cooking traditions (many as hangover remedies)!
Instead of the traditional Basque zopako ogia flatbread, which I have not been able to find in the U.S., I use baguette slices that are fried in olive oil – well-browned but not burnt — to add to the soup body and depth of taste.
Another key ingredient in sopa de ajo (and Spanish cuisine in general) is pimentón de la Vera, a smoky paprika from Spain’s La Vera region. To make it, ripe peppers are smoke-dried over oak chips, then ground to a powder.
I normally use Las Hermanas Paprika brand of agridulce (bittersweet) pimentón for my garlic soup. The original recipe calls for dulce (sweet) pimentón, but agridulce has a more intense taste than dulce and has less heat than pimentón picante, the spicy version. However, if you wish a milder or much more spicy taste (dulce or picante), feel free to use any of the other styles of Spanish paprika.
I found this ingredient during a press trip to Extremadura when we visited the production facility. Depending on the amount of the soup you make, you’ll need a dose of pimentón for this recipe.
Hijos de Salvador López – and its Las Hermanas brand – is a women-run company, founded in 1940 by Salvador López, continued by Salvador’s three sons and now by his two granddaughters. The peppers, all cultivated by local farmers in La Vera until ripe red, are smoked upon picking using indirect heat over oak fires for 10-15 days, finished over a slightly warmer fire for three additional days, and then ground to a powder.
For 4 portions of sopa de ajo, here is my recipe adaptation.
Ingredients:
6 cups cubed French bread (of course if zopako ogia is available use by all means)
3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
7 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced, or more to taste
1/4 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 ounces smoked ham, diced
1 or 1 1/4 tablespoon smoked pimentón, or to taste
6 cups chicken broth, or more as needed
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro
4 large eggs
Method:
Preheat a salamander or oven to 375⁰F in top grill setting.
In a cast-iron frying pan, fry the bread cubes in the 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, tossing occasionally, until the bread is very well-browned but not burned.
Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Stir and cook the garlic and sliced onions in the hot oil until just golden, about 1 or 2 minutes.
Add the ham, and stir until heated through, about 1-1/2 more minutes.
Add a tablespoon or more of pimentón, and cook for 1 minute more.
Add the bread cubes to the pot, and toss to coat well with the hot flavored oil, garlic, onion, and ham mixture.
Pour chicken broth onto the bread mixture. Beat the bread cubes until they dissolve and thicken the broth.
Add cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Stir, and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium, and stir in parsley. Cook for 4 more minutes.
Crack each egg into individual small bowls or cups. Spoon the soup into 4 individual clay pots. Make depressions on the thickened top of the soup with a spoon. Slowly pour an egg into each depression.
Place the pots in a preheated top-grill oven or salamander, and cook until the egg whites are firm and yolks are thick but not hard, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve hot.
In Extremadura, they make Ajo Blanco, a garlic soup using very lightly toasted almonds, shelled and crushed in a mortar instead of the bread and without the smoked ham, using the same other ingredients and mixed in a blender. They usually serve it cold in a champagne coupe with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top. Disfrutar!
Manos Angelakis is one of the founders, the former Managing Editor for 25 years, the current Managing Editor Emeritus, and Senior Food & Wine Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. He is an accomplished travel writer, photographer, and food and wine critic based in Hackensack, New Jersey. As a travel writer, he has written extensively about numerous cities and countries. Manos has also been certified as a Tuscan Wine Master and has traveled to wine-producing areas in order to evaluate firsthand the product of top-rated vineyards. In the past year, he has visited and written multiple articles about Morocco, Turkey, Quebec City, Switzerland, Antarctica, and most recently the South of France. Articles in other publications include Vision Times and Epoch Times.
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