Spanish cuisine · Soups & Stews

Gachas Manchegas

Hearty flour porridge from La Mancha, toasted in garlic oil and colored deep red with sweet paprika.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 200 g flour
• 6 cloves garlic
• 120 ml olive oil
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp hot paprika
• 1 l water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 100 g white bread
• salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Slice four garlic cloves thinly, finely chop the remaining two, and cut the white bread into 1 cm cubes.
2. Heat 80 ml olive oil in a wide pan, toast the garlic slices and bread cubes in it for 3–4 min until golden brown, then lift both out.
3. Reduce the heat to medium, sprinkle the flour into the hot oil and toast it, stirring constantly, for 6–8 min until it turns light brown and smells nutty.
4. Take the pan off the heat and stir in both paprikas and the cumin — just 20 sec, or the paprika will turn bitter.
5. Gradually pour in the hot water while stirring vigorously, add the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, and simmer the porridge uncovered over low heat for 15 min until it falls thickly from the ladle.
6. Remove the bay leaf, serve the porridge straight from the pan or in shallow clay bowls, topped with the garlic chips, bread cubes and remaining olive oil.