IT’S BEYOND CLICHÉ to tout a recipe as being more than the sum of its parts. But when it comes to garlic soup, any successful version has got to be just that. There’s no leaning on an expensive cut of meat or opportunity to showcase simply adorned, perfectly ripe, in-season produce. Rather, the crux of making garlic soup is the transformation of a handful of humble, affordable pantry ingredients into something you’d crave, again and again. That’s exactly what this recipe does, with its velvety, luxurious roasted garlic broth and lacy, crispy Parmesan croutons.
Drawing on long-standing culinary tradition—garlic soup is a classic dish throughout the Mediterranean (sopa de ajo in Spain and
