Instructions: This soup is best made in a flat earthenware casserole about 8-inches in diameter, but you can make it in any dish that has a fairly large frying surface and can be put in the oven.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat olive oil until it smokes, let it cool slightly, and fry whole garlic cloves gently. Discard when browned. Fry the bread until browned, remove casserole from fire to stir in paprika, pour in preheated bouillon or stock, and return to fire. Break up bread when soft, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook slowly, covered, 15 to 20 minutes.

A few minutes before serving, beat eggs with a little salt, spread them over the surface of the soup, and put the uncovered dish in the oven until a brown crust forms on top.

Comments: For a variation, instead of making the oven crust, poach one egg per person in the soup. (It is easiest to avoid breaking the yolk if you break the egg into a saucer and slide it from the saucer into the soup.) You can also beat two eggs with a little salt and stir them into the soup. This is the way preferred in Madrid.

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