Sopa castellana with garlic, bread and egg

Peel the garlic and slice it. Dice the ham and remove the chorizo casing if thick. Cut the chorizo into small pieces and the bread into thin slices. Heat the oil in a saucepan and gently soften the garlic until pale golden for about 2 min, without browning. Stir in ham and chorizo for about 3 min. Add bread and cook for another 3 min, stirring to coat.

Briefly remove the pan from the heat, add paprika and stir immediately without burning it. Add all the water and salt and return to the heat. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for about 20 min, stirring occasionally, until the bread is thoroughly soaked. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 °C conventional heat.

Place oven-safe soup bowls on a stable baking tray, leaving space below the rim. Divide all the hot soup among them. Crack eggs separately into a cup to check for shell fragments, then slide onto the soup, one egg per bowl. Bake for about 10 min until the whites are fully set. Extend for firmer yolks. Wash and dry the parsley, then chop and scatter it to serve. Handle the very hot bowls with oven mitts.