Spanish Potato and Garlic Soup

I love the use of thyme in this soup. My note in the recipe margine says "careful with the potatoes — not too many, maybe more tomato". The recipe serves six, which means I'm sizing it down for two, so I probably mis-measured the first time. I was also a bit light with the potatoes, and the soup didn't thicken as much even with the cornstarch (but I like it this way).

Here's the original recipe. I think it's a bit light on the spices. I have also used diluted chicken stock when I didn't have any vegetable stock.

Spanish Potato and Garlic Soup
one-pot, slow-pot, & clay-pot cooking

2 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large potato, halved and cut into thin slices
1 tsp paprika
14oz can of tomatoes, chopped and drained (or equivalent of fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped)
1 tsp thyme, plus extra for garnish
3 3/4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp cornstarch
salt and black pepper to taste

1) Heat oil in large, heavy pan.  Add onion, garlic, potatoes, and paprika and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until the onions have softened but not browned.

2) Add chopped tomatoes, thyme, and vegetable stock.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through.

3) In small bowl, mix cornstarch and a little water to make a paste.  Stir it into the soup.  Boil for about 5 minutes until the soup has thickened.

4) Use a wooden spoon to break up the potatoes slightly, then season to taste.  Garnish with extra thyme.

Joe's parents gave us a large clay pot, and I never knew how to use it until I got this cookbook. It has a nice variety of recipes spanning several cuisines. Though the name's a bit misleading as you'll often need more than one pot to put together a complete dinner.

Comments

[trevor]

So when do the potatoes go in? I'm assuming step 2) tonight :o)

[Kitchen Chick]

Trevor: good catch! The potatoes are added in Step 1.

Wow, you found an old post, back in the days when Joe wasn't proof-reading for me. I've corrected the instructions, fixed a typo or two. (There are probably more. I'm awful at copy-editing my own words.)