Tear or cut the bread into ½-inch cubes/pieces. Stale bread works best for sopa de ajo.
Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium-low heat. Add the sliced garlic and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until it begins to turn golden, then stir in the paprika.
Add the bread and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, about 4 minutes.
Stir in the stock and water and bring nearly to the boil. Then reduce the heat to simmer.
One by one, crack an egg into a small dish, make a small indentation in the soup and pour in the egg. Then repeat with the remaining eggs. Cover the soup with a lid and allow the eggs to poach for 3 minutes or until set.
Taste and adjust seasoning of the soup. If the soup is too thick, thin it with a little more water.
Serve the sopa de ajo divided between four bowls with each serving getting an egg. Top with parsley.
Video
Notes
Depending on the type of bread, the eggs can sink instead of sit on the top of the sopa de ajo and poach. They sink for me sometimes and I fish them out and finish them in a frying pan. You may wish to simply fry or poach the eggs separately and serve them on top of the soup. You can also just stir the eggs into the soup, like egg drop soup.
Don’t have stale bread at home? Tear your bread into cubes and toast it up in the oven until bread cubes are dried out like homemade croutons.
Make sure you’re cooking the garlic over a heat that is low enough to not burn the garlic after a few minutes. Garlic cooks quickly and can become burned and bitter if not watched.
Depending on the type of bread used, the eggs can sink instead of sit on the top of the sopa de ajo and poach. They sink for me sometimes and I fish them out and finish them in a frying pan. You may wish to simply fry or poach the eggs separately and serve them on top of the soup.
Enjoy small bowls of Sopa de Ajo as traditional tapas alongside other Spanish dishes, such as Spanish Beans, patatas bravas and Spanish Omelet.
Storing: Store this soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days before reheating and serving.Freezing: Soaked bread and poached eggs do not freeze well therefore freezing is not recommended.