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Açorda à Alentejana

6 thick slices of stale farmhouse bead

4 eggs

3/4 cloves of garlic

Fresh coriander

Vegetable broth (using bouillon cubes), 1.5 litres

Olives in brine( for accompaniment)

Coarse salt

Serves 4

Put the eggs in a small pan, cover them with cold water, bring to the boil then cook for 7 minutes. Pound a generous sprig of coriander in a mortar ( or in a blender) with  the peeled garlic  cloves and a level tablespoon of coarse salt to obtain a paste; put this in a soup tureen with 4-5 tablespoons of oil, the hot broth and mix. Add the bread cut into large chunks and cover the tureen with its lid ( if you prefer a thicker soup, then leave the tureen uncovered at this point). In the meantime, shell the cold, hard-boiled eggs and float them in the soup ( or serve them in a separate dish). Keep the tureen covered until  is time to serve the açorda accompanied by olives. Though this  is not exactly an all -in-one meal-it is so satisfying that nothing much is needed afterwards.

From: Portuguese Cooking- Editrici Bonechi