Recipe: Special Garlic Soup (Sopa de Ajo)

SPECIAL GARLIC SOUP (Sopa de Ajo)
Serves 4

10 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp flour
2 tb olive oil
1 quart chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
4 large eggs
2 tbsp crumbled white cheese
1 tbsp chopped cilantrillo or fresh parsley

Crush garlic cloves with a mortar and pestle; mix with the flour. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot, saut the garlic in it, stirring. Add the stock, salt and pepper, and mix well. Cook covered, at medium heat for 15 minutes. Gently slip the eggs into the hot soup, one at a time, and poach, basting with the soup. Remove poached eggs with a slotted spoon and place one in each serving bowl. Add very hot soup and sprinkle with cheese and cilantrillo over the top.

This soup is good by itself as a light lunch, with the addition of bread croutons. Can be served as an entrante in a sit down dinner without the eggs, and in small portions.