You Should Start Soup Season With This Garlic Mayonnaise Soup.
I’m one of those weird birds that enjoys a bowl of hot soup any time of the year – sweating over a steaming bowl in the summer is just my way of celebrating the greatness of soup. But I understand that soup lovers in good weather may only like it in winter, and as we prepare for the season, here is a soup seasoning you can add to your repertoire. (Is it too early for soup puns?)
Garlic mayonnaise isn’t just for sandwiches
Garlic mayonnaise soup is a variation of Lautrec’s garlic soup that uses a special variety of pink garlic from the Lautrec region of France, prized for its intensive growing method and milder taste compared to the astringent taste of white and purple garlic. Rest assured though, this soup tastes incredible with whatever garlic you have on hand.
If you think garlic mayonnaise is more like sandwich spread than soup, you’re right. I was also surprised when I first read about this dish. Adding an egg yolk emulsion to soup didn’t bother me – it’s not uncommon for eggs to be added to soups (like Avgolemono soup ) to give it a thick and silky flavor – but I thought it might end up tasting like a bowl of hot mayonnaise. But I believed garlic would take him to a higher level…and it did.
The taste is undeniably garlicky, but in the most tender, tender state thanks to the preliminary boiling of the garlic. All of the sharp stinging stinging taste of raw garlic disappears and a milder aroma and flavor remains. The mayonnaise is more like a salty than a sandwich as it is scattered among the garlic, sage and chicken broth. It also gives the broth the body it needs.
One bowl of this soup takes a whole head of garlic, so if you happen to have more garlic than you’ve ever needed before, or if you just can’t get enough of the spicy seasoning, this soup is for you. To make this French-style garlic mayonnaise soup, take a whole head of garlic and crush each clove to remove the paper and peel off the hard connecting tab at the bottom of each clove. Mincing the garlic allows it to cook and soften faster, as well as remove any papery skin. Boil chopped cloves in chicken broth (or vegetable broth for a vegetarian dish) with a sprig of sage until the cloves are very soft. Remove the garlic cloves from the broth and mash them with a knife on a cutting board into a paste or rub them through a sieve with the back of a spoon. Discard the sage and add the garlic paste back to the broth.
You can use store-bought mayonnaise, or if you don’t like using sandwich dressing in your soup, you can make homemade mayonnaise. Both actually taste great.
Make homemade mayonnaise if you like.
If you decide to make your own, beat an egg yolk with half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and drizzle with about four ounces of olive oil until it’s light, creamy and emulsified. Mix the egg mayonnaise with the hot garlic broth and return it to the pot on the stove. If you’re using store-bought mayonnaise, you can add it to a bowl and temper the mayonnaise until it softens and comes to the right temperature. Once everything is back in the pot, heat it to a boil, but not to a boil, stirring frequently.
To make the soup silkier, finish it with an immersion or regular blender. Serve this with a few crunchy toasts and you’ve got a bowl of comforting soup that will probably dispel all the old school vampires and might even boost your immune system this winter.
How to make Garlic Mayonnaise Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 head of garlic (cloves peeled and crushed)
- sprig of sage
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
- Crispy toast
In a small saucepan with a lid, cook the chicken broth, sage and garlic cloves over medium heat for 15 minutes. Remove the sage and discard it. Remove the garlic cloves and mince them by squeezing them on a cutting board with a knife, using a food processor, or mashing through a sieve. Return the garlic paste to the broth and bring to a boil.
In a small bowl, fluff up the mayonnaise with a whisk and thin it with the hot garlic broth until it softens and heats up. Add the tempered mayonnaise mixture to the saucepan and beat until combined over medium heat. Bring the soup to a boil and turn off the heat. Add salt and cayenne pepper. Serve with lots of toast and the coziest blanket.