recipes

• Soak Lentils: If using Spanish lentils, place them in a medium bowl, add cold water to cover by 1 inch, and let sit overnight.
• Drain and rinse.
• Cook Lentils: Place the soaked Spanish lentils or other lentils in a soup pot with the water, salt, pepper, halved onion, garlic, parsley, and bay leaves.
• Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour until well blended.
• Add Vegetables and Meats: Add the potatoes, chopped onions, carrot, ham, chorizo, vinegar, and salt.
• Cover and simmer for 30 minutes more or until the lentils are tender.
• Finish and Serve: Squeeze the garlic flesh into the soup and discard the skin and bay leaves.
• Serve hot.

• Prepare Broth: In a soup pot, bring the water to a boil over high heat.
• Add the beef, ham bone, chorizo, salt, and pepper.
• Return to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/4 hours or until the broth is flavorful and cooked through.
• Cook Vegetables: Add the Swiss chard, potatoes, beans, and olive oil.
• Cover and simmer for 45 minutes more or until the potatoes and beans are tender and the flavors are well blended.
• Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
• Finish and Serve: Discard the beef and bone, retaining the chorizo in the soup.
• Serve hot.

Cook Vegetables:

• Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over low heat.
• Add the lettuce, garlic, leek, chervil, shallots, chard, and Brussels sprouts.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lettuce and chard have softened and cooked down (about 8 minutes).

Simmer Soup:

• Pour in the broth, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil.
• Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
• Add Egg Yolks (Optional): If using the yolks, place them into a small bowl and stir in a few tablespoons of the hot broth.
• Stir the mixture back into the soup.

Finish and Serve:

• Add the potatoes and bread, if using.
• Serve hot.

• Soak Beans: Place the beans in a medium bowl, add cold water to cover by 2 inches, and let soak overnight in the refrigerator.
• Drain.
• Cook Beans: Place the beans in a soup pot, add the salt pork, 1 quart water, and the broth.
• Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the beans are almost tender.
• Prepare Seasoning Paste: Meanwhile, in a mortar or mini-processor, mash the garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and cumin.
• Stir in the olive oil.
• Add Vegetables: Add the watercress and potatoes to the beans.
• Thin the mortar mixture by stirring in a little liquid from the pot, then stir the mixture into the soup.
• Cover and continue cooking over low heat for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
• Finish and Serve: Remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Pour the soup into individual bowls.
• Cut the salt pork into 6 pieces and place 1 piece in each bowl.
• Serve hot.

• Cook Vegetables:
• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a shallow earthenware casserole dish or Dutch oven over medium heat.
• Add the scallions, onion, garlic, bell peppers, and parsley.
• Cook, stirring, until softened (1-2 minutes).
• Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes until well-blended.
• Add Tomatoes and Cook:
• Increase heat to medium, stir in tomatoes, and cook until blended (about 5 minutes).
• Add cabbage, artichokes, salt, and pepper.
• Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes more.
• Simmer Soup:
• Stir in the vegetable broth, cover, and cook for 20 minutes until the flavors are blended and the soup is fragrant.
• Bake Bread:
• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Place half of the bread slices under the vegetable soup in the casserole dish and arrange the rest on top of the vegetables.
• Drizzle the bread with extra-virgin olive oil.
• Bake for 10 minutes or until the bread is golden.
• Serve:
• If using earthenware, serve hot in the dish, or transfer to individual bowls.

• Heat the Oil: In a soup pot over high heat, heat the olive oil.
• Cook Onions: Add the finely chopped onion and cook, stirring, until wilted and transparent, about 5 minutes.
• Add Tomato: Add the chopped tomato and cook for 1 minute.
• Add Mushrooms and Potatoes: Stir in the finely chopped mushrooms and coarsely grated potatoes.
• Cook, stirring, until they have softened and released their juices, about 10 minutes more.
• Add Broth and Seasonings: Pour in the vegetable broth, and season with salt, pepper, bay leaf, and thyme.
• Simmer: Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
• Cover and simmer for about 1 hour or until fragrant and flavorful.
• Finish and Serve: Remove the bay leaf.
• Serve the soup hot.

Prepare the Soup:

• Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
• Add the whole garlic clove and cook, stirring, until lightly browned on all sides, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Transfer the garlic clove to a small bowl and reserve.
• Add the onion, chopped garlic, and peppers to the pot.
• Cook, stirring, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes more or until the vegetables are well blended.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and increase the heat to medium.
• Cook until blended, about 5 minutes more.
• Stir in the paprika, crushed tomatoes, salt, bay leaf, parsley, ½ teaspoon of the cumin, the reserved garlic, and enough water to reach desired consistency.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until fragrant and flavorful.

Prepare the Croutons:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
• Arrange the bread cubes on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until crisp and browned on all sides.

Finish the Soup:

• Remove the soup from the heat and add the remaining ¼ teaspoon cumin.
• Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Prepare the Figs:

• Without slicing all the way through, cut the figs lengthwise into quarters.

Serve:

• Divide the bread cubes among 4 soup bowls and pour the soup over them.
• Open each fig into the shape of a star and place one in the center of each bowl.
• Serve hot.

Prepare the Soup:

• Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
• Add the onion, garlic, bell peppers, and Serrano ham.
• Cook, stirring, until the peppers are slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in the tomatoes, salt, and black pepper.
• Cook until the tomatoes have softened and released their juice, about 3 minutes more.
• Add the paprika, bay leaf, cumin, dried sweet red pepper, parsley, and oregano.
• Reduce the heat to very low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes to blend the flavors.
• Add the broth, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes more, and remove from heat.
• Remove the bay leaf.
• Prepare the Flan:
• Place the milk, goat cheese, and anchovies in a medium saucepan.
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the cheese has melted, about 2 minutes.
• Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, then stir in the eggs and egg yolk.
• Discard the solids.
• Transfer the milk-egg mixture to flan cups or small ramekins.

Cook the Flan:

• Place the flan cups in a pan of hot water.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 30 minutes or until just set through.
• Using heat pads, turn the flan cups over to release the flans into individual bowls.

Serve:

• Divide the soup evenly over the flans.
• Garnish with pine nuts and basil leaves.
• Serve hot.

• Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
• Add the blanched almonds and cook, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer the almonds with a slotted spoon to a mortar.
• Add the bread and garlic to the pot and cook, turning the bread once and stirring the garlic, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Transfer to the mortar and mash all the ingredients together.
• Increase the heat to medium-high.
• Add the coarsely chopped red and green bell peppers and the onion to the pot and cook, stirring, until tender, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in the ground paprika, then transfer the vegetables to the mortar.
• Mash until well blended.
• Add the mashed mixture from the mortar back to the pot and add enough water to cover the mixture.
• Season with more paprika, if necessary, and salt to taste.
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 35 minutes or until fragrant and well-flavored.
• Serve hot.

• Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
• Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring, until wilted but not browned, about 7 minutes.
• Add the broth, white wine, bay leaf, parsley, salt, and pepper to the pot.
• Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or until blended.
• Place the blanched almonds in a food processor or blender and process until finely chopped (but not a paste).
• With the motor running, gradually add ½ cup of the broth and process until the liquid is milky white and no pieces remain.
• Pass through a fine-mesh strainer.
• (If a lot of almond remains in the strainer, return to the processor with a little broth and process again.
• ) Discard the solids.
• Return the almond liquid to the pot and add the ground cumin.
• Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes more to let the flavors meld.
• Place a broiler rack about 3 inches from the heat source and preheat the broiler.
• Transfer the soup to a shallow earthenware casserole dish or 6 individual shallow ovenproof bowls.
• Arrange the toasted bread slices on top of the soup and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan cheese.
• Broil until the bread and cheese are golden, 3 to 5 minutes, being careful not to let it burn.
• Sprinkle with the sliced toasted almonds and serve hot.