My fiance, Greg, told me about this garlic soup after he tried it while he was in the Czech Republic. It's also called Česnečka, which I learned after a quick Google search! I didn't know what to imagine when he described it to me. I just pictured a very strong..garlic flavored soup. Even while I was cooking it, I was a bit worried that it would turn out horrible because the entire kitchen smelled of garlic. Nothing else, not a hint of any other flavor. Just garlic! I thought there is no way this will turn out tasting good. But I was wrong! Once it's finished cooking and you add in the toasted bread, it has a tasty butter flavor to it that mixes really well with the broth. Greg said it didn't taste quite the same as what he had, but he liked it and I really liked it too. In fact, just sitting here thinking about it makes me want to whip up another pot of it! Below is the recipe Greg gave me to go by, tweaked to make it vegan.
Ingredients:
8 cups broth (beef or chicken) I used G. Washington 'beef' broth.
6 cloves of garlic (more or less, according to your personal taste)
1 tsp. salt (more or less according to your person taste)
1 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. vegan butter substitute (I used Blue Bonnet, Earth Balance is also good too)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and dices into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp. caraway seeds
2 tbsp. parsley
slices of bread
Mash the garlic together with the salt.
Place the garlic and salt mixture into a large pot, add broth and slowly bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer. Add caraway seeds, potatoes, marjoram, and butter. Simmer uncovered till potatoes are tender. Add in the pepper.
Fry slices of bread in butter (you're basically making croutons). Place a slice of bread in each bowl and ladle the garlic soup over the bread. Sprinkle with parsley.
With this bowl, I went a little crazy with the pieces of toasted bread. I probably used a slice and a half, which you might think is too much for a small bowl of soup like I had..but I think the bread is what makes the whole thing. But like with the garlic, salt and pepper - you can just adjust the recipe to your liking.
