Sopa de La Mancha

Now that the weather is starting to turn cool, I’ve been thinking about earthier flavors and darker colors. And soups. I know that there’s a soup for any weather, but except for gazpacho, I want nothing to do with the stuff in summer. But recently I was treated to another Spanish soup, which is in my mind a perfect fall dish. I don’t know what it’s really called, but the friend who made it claims this to be “something I learned from my nan” says it’s from Don Quixote’s own La Mancha region of Spain. Why a Spanish girl calls her grandmother ‘nan’ is anyone’s guess.

Here’s the recipe:

4 cups beef stock
4 eggs
2 tbs olive oil
4 large peeled cloves of garlic
4 slices stale country breads (We used cibatta, which was good but maybe something more sour would be better)
4 tbs paprika
¼ tsp ground cumin

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees (F), and set out four oven-safe bowls.

In a saucepan, fry whole peeled garlic cloves in the oil until they are golden; set them aside. Fry your bread until it’s golden and set that aside too. Now, add 1 tablespoon of the paprika to the pot, let it fry a few seconds, and then add the rest of the paprika, cumin, and stock. Let it get hot but not quite boiling.

Crush your garlic with a spoon, and it back to the pot, along with some salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes over medium heat. While that’s happening, break the bread up into bits into the bowls - one slice each.

Ladle the hot soup into the bowls (I recommend having them on a tray or something that you can put into the oven - it makes transportation easier). Break an egg into each bowl, and put the lot in the oven for about 3 minutes, until the eggs are set.

Enjoy!