Garlic Soup

The name of this blog is Better with Garlic and though I do bake a lot, I still love garlic. A lot. Above is the proper amount of garlic for a recipe. This soup is perfect for a number of reasons. It’s garlic, but not too assertive. I used the full amount possible for the recipe because for some reason, when someone says 12 garlic cloves, I say 15. It’s cheese, which is always good. And it’s soup, which in this wacky, up and down Portland weather is just what I need. I used veggie stock instead of water, but that’s because veggie stock is awesome. Make this soup, you won’t be sorry.

Richard Olney’s Garlic Soup from 101 Cookbooks:

Serves 2

4 c. stock or water
1 bay leaf
2 sage leaves
¾ tsp. fresh thyme
15 medium cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and chopped
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1½ oz. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper
¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
Day old crusty bread and more olive oil to drizzle

Bring the stock to a boil in your beautiful Le Creuset (or other heavy bottomed soup pot) and add the bay leaf, sage, thyme, garlic, and salt. Heat to a gentle boil and simmer for 40 minutes. Remove the bay and sage leaves and take the soup off the heat. Taste and add more salt if needed.

 With a fork, whisk the egg, egg yolks, cheese, and pepper together in a bowl until creamy. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, beating all the time, then add very slowly, continuing to whisk, a large ladleful of the broth. Stir the contents of the bowl into the garlic broth and whisk it continuously over low-medium heat until it thickens slightly. Olney states, "just long enough to be no longer watery." The author says they usually let it go a wee-bit beyond that - until it is the consistency of half-and-half or cream. I followed this advice. Place a handful of torn bread chunks into the bottom of each bowl and pour the soup over the bread. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil (I used my awesome Benessere garlic olive oil) and serve immediately.