Garlic soup: two whole bulbs, and it isn't sharp at all
Two entire bulbs of garlic in one pot sounds like a recipe for something inedible, but cooked garlic is a different vegetable from raw. The sulphur compounds responsible for its bite break down with heat, leaving sweetness and a nutty mildness. There is one condition: the garlic must not brown. Scorched, it turns irreversibly bitter, and in a soup where it is the main ingredient there is nowhere to hide that.
Your own work in that: 52 min.
- Garlic 20 min
- Simmering 22 min
- Croutons and serving 10 min
Step by step
0 / 6 donePeel the garlic
Peel all twenty cloves. Fastest method: lay the flat of a knife on each and press with your palm — the skin splits by itself. Halve the cloves lengthwise and remove the green germ from the centre if there is one; it is the usual source of bitterness. Peel and chop the onion.
Ingredients: 20 cloves garlic · 400 g potatoes · 1 pcs onion · 40 g butter · 1000 ml vegetable or chicken stock · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 pcs bay leaf · 1 pinch nutmeg · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp white pepper
TipThe germ appears in garlic stored more than a few months. Young, fresh garlic has none, and then this step can be skipped.
Soften it, don't brown it
Cook the chopped onion and garlic in the butter 10 minutes over low heat, stirring. They should soften and turn translucent, with no trace of brown. This is the crucial moment of the whole recipe: browned garlic gives a bitterness neither cream nor salt will mask.
TipIf the butter starts to sizzle hard or the garlic begins to colour at the edges, lift the pot off the heat for half a minute and lower the flame. Better to stretch this stage than to hurry it.
Translucent and soft, with no brownSimmer with the potatoes
Add the diced potatoes, the bay leaf and the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer 15 minutes, until the potatoes are completely tender. The potato is the thickener here: it is what makes the soup creamy without a roux and without a litre of cream.
Ingredients: 20 cloves garlic · 400 g potatoes · 1 pcs onion · 40 g butter · 1000 ml vegetable or chicken stock · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 pcs bay leaf · 1 pinch nutmeg · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp white pepper
Fifteen minutes, until the potato collapsesBlend and add cream
Remove the bay leaf and blend the soup completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour in the cream (keep 2–3 tablespoons back for serving) and season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Warm it through for 2–3 minutes but do not boil once the cream is in.
Two minutes of blender, then the creamFry the croutons
Cut the stale bread into 1.5 cm cubes and fry in butter 5 minutes, shaking the pan, until golden and crisp on every side. The croutons are not decoration: in a soup this smooth they provide the only texture there is.
Ingredients: 4 pcs bread · 30 g butter · ½ bunch parsley
TipStale bread absorbs less butter and crisps better. Fresh bread soaks it up and stays soft inside.
A 1.5 cm dice, five minutes in butterServe with croutons and parsley
Ladle into bowls, add a handful of croutons to each, a swirl of cream and a scattering of parsley. Serve at once, while the croutons are crisp — in the soup they soften in under two minutes.
Croutons at the plate, never in the pot
Before you start
With roasted garlic
Instead of frying, roast two whole bulbs: cut off the tops, drizzle with oil, wrap in foil and bake 40 minutes at 190 °C. Squeeze the flesh into the soup. The flavour is deeper, sweeter and distinctly caramelised.
Without cream
Use an extra potato and a tablespoon of butter at the end. The soup is lighter and the garlic more pronounced — dairy mutes it slightly.
For a cold
Cooking destroys most of the allicin, the compound behind raw garlic's bite and its antibacterial reputation. If you want that raw-garlic effect, crush two extra raw cloves in just before serving.
Reheating
It keeps three days in the fridge and reheats well, provided it doesn't boil. Always make the croutons fresh — reheated ones are merely dry.
