50 Clove Garlic Soup

This silky potato soup transforms five whole heads of garlic into something surprisingly sweet and mellow—no harsh bite here! Perfect for chilly days when you need something comforting that feels good for you too.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp / 50g unsalted butter
• 1 2/3 cups / 250g (50 – 60 cloves) peeled garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 small brown or yellow onion ((or 1/2 large), diced small)
• 1.5 kg / 3.3 lbs starchy potato (, peeled and cut into 2.5cm / 1" cubes (Note 3))
• 3 cups vegetable stock / broth (, salt-reduced (Note 4))
• 3 cups water
• 2 tsp cooking / kosher salt (, halve for table salt)
• 1/8 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/2 cup thickened cream (heavy cream)
• 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs ((Note 5))
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 tsp cooking / kosher salt (, halve for table salt)
• 2 tsp finely chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Cook garlic 5 minutes in butter. Onion 2 minutes, potato 1 minute then add stock, water, salt and pepper. Simmer 15 minutes. Add cream, cook 1 minute. Blitz and serve hot with garnish.
2. Sauté – Heat butter in a large heavy base pot over medium high heat until melted. Add garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. The garlic should be nicely golden on the edges. Don't let it brown too deeply or it can become bitter.
3. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes until softened.
4. Add potato and cook for 1 minute, stirring regularly.
5. Simmer 15 minutes – Turn the stove up to high. Pour in stock and water. Season with salt and pepper. Stir, then once it comes to a simmer, lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes (no lid) until the potatoes are soft (check with a knife). (Note 6)
6. Stir in cream, simmer for 1 minute.
7. Blitz – Remove from the heat and use a stick blender to blitz until fully smooth. Or puree in batches in a blender. Adjust to taste – Add water if it's too thick, salt and pepper if needed, extra cream if you want it richer.
8. Serve hot in bowls with toasted panko garnish, a drizzle of olive oil and warm crusty bread. 😋
9. Mix panko, olive oil and salt in a small bowl until all combined. Heat up a small frying pan over medium high heat. Place the panko into the pan and cook stirring constantly for 3 minutes until nicely golden all over. Remove from stove, toss in the parsley and set aside.