Ultimate Comfort Food: Garlic and Saffron Soup

This soup was absolutely amazing comfort food, especially for a chilly day. The actual soup itself has no dairy in it at all--it's thickened with bread, of all things. Cut or torn up bread cooked in the broth, garlic, and saffron. Oh man, it was tasty. It was also a chance to use my handy stick-blender, the novelty of which still hasn't worn off. I did put a little bit of the Jack cheese on top of the soup as well as on the croutons, which turned out to be tasty (it's cheese...it wasn't exactly risky).

In any case, highly recommended recipe I stole from Epicurious. Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups trimmed sourdough bread cubes
• 4 large garlic cloves, quartered
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
• 2 generous pinches saffron threads

• Salt
• 8 1/2-inch-thick French bread baguette slices
• 1/2 cup grated Manchego or Monterey Jack Cheese
• Minced fresh chives or green onion tops
• Saffron threads

Preparation

Heat 4 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. add bread cubes and garlic and sauté until bread is light golden, about 4 minutes. Add wine, then broth and saffron; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes. Puree soup in blender. Return soup to saucepan. Season with salt.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange French bread slices on cookie sheet. Brush with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Bake until lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over croutons. Transfer cookie sheet to broiler; broil croutons until cheese melts. Place 2 croutons in each bowl. Bring soup to simmer. Ladle over croutons. Sprinkle with chives and a few saffron threads and serve.