Cold remedies - Garlic soup for one

This is one of my favourite cold-busting remedies, and I always feel that it does me good. It's a little time consuming to make, but it's well worth it. And it doesn't taste overwhelmingly garlicky, since it's cooked long enough that the garlic becomes more sweet and subtle in flavour.

I came across this soup for the first time in Patricia Cornwell's Food to Die For, a cookbook of dishes mentioned in her Kay Scarpetta novels. I love this cookbook and there are a number of other recipes in it I make quite often. In the book the soup is called Zuppa di Aglio Fresco (Fresh Garlic Soup). I simplified the recipe a bit, and these are the amounts I use for one person. You could make a bigger batch of the soup base and freeze it, then just do the final step with the egg and parmesan when you want to eat the soup.

Olive oil

1 large carrot - peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic - chopped

400ml chicken stock (I use a glug of concentrated stock from a bottle then top up with water)

Bay leaf

Chopped fresh thyme

25g grated fresh parmesan

1 egg yolk

A glug of sherry or cider or wine if you have any

Fry the carrot and garlic in the oil for about 3 minutes on a medium heat.

Add the stock, bay leaf and thyme and simmer for 30 minutes.

Blend the soup and add your sherry/cider/wine.

Stir the parmesan and egg yolk together, and add a spoonful of soup.

Slowly add this mixture to the soup, which should be on a low heat.

Stir for about 10 minutes. It should thicken slightly. Try not to let the egg form lumps.

In the book she adds sourdough bread at the end, but I don't bother with the bread. I just add some black pepper and a few thyme leaves.

This is a delicious soup at any time, but especially when you need to shake off a bad cold!