Sopa de picadillo

Ingredients

• 6⅓ cupsbrothhomemade from chicken and beef or ready-made meat stock
• 1½ lbchickenmix of stewing hen and chicken, for the broth, then finely chopped (optional)
• 8¾ ozbeefcooked in the broth and chopped, or as minced beef
• 5¼ ozserrano hamfinely diced
• 3eggshard-boiled, chopped
• 2⅛ ozfine vermicellivery thin, briefly cooked in the soup
• 3½ ozwhite breadfinely diced or toasted cubes, instead of noodles (optional)
• 1onionfor the broth or sofrito
• 1carrotsfor the broth
• 1green bell pepperfor the broth (optional)
• 4 clovesgarlicpeeled, for the broth (optional)
• minta few leaves added at the end
• 1 pinchsaffrona few threads for colour (optional)
• 2 tbspolive oil
• saltto taste

Method

1. Starting the brothFor a homemade broth, put the chicken, beef, onion and carrot into a large pot, along with the green bell pepper and peeled garlic cloves if you like. Add enough water to cover everything so that about 1.5 litres of broth remain after straining; top up with water during cooking if needed. Salt lightly.
2. Simmering the meat until tenderLet everything simmer gently over medium heat until the meat is properly tender. Depending on the meat this takes around two hours; skim off any foam that collects on the surface as you go.
3. Lifting out the meat and strainingLift the meat out of the pot and let it cool a little. Strain the broth through a fine sieve and set it aside.
4. Hard-boiling the eggsMeanwhile, hard-boil the eggs for about 10 minutes, cool them under cold water and peel them.
5. Chopping the picadilloIf you cooked chicken, pull the meat off the skin and bones. Then finely chop the meat, the diced cured ham and the eggs.
6. Seasoning the soupBring the broth back up to heat, add the chopped mixture and season with a splash of olive oil, salt and, if you like, a few saffron threads.
7. Vermicelli or bread go inBring the soup to the boil and cook the fine vermicelli in it for 2 to 3 minutes. Instead of the vermicelli, you can add the white bread cubes.
8. Steeping with mintTake the pot off the heat, drop a few mint leaves into the soup, cover and let it stand briefly. Then ladle it into bowls piping hot.

Tips and variations

No homemade broth? It works without, and then you leave the chicken out entirely. Either simmer the beef in 1.5 litres of ready-made meat stock until tender, lift it out and carry on from boiling the eggs as above. Or go straight for minced beef: crumble it into 1.5 litres of ready-made meat stock and let it simmer for a few minutes until cooked through, then carry on with the eggs from step 4; there's no meat to chop this way. Bread cubes, fresh or toasted first, work just as well as vermicelli in the bowl. For a heartier minced-meat version, start with a sofrito of onion, carrot and celery, brown minced beef in it, then add diced potato and broth, cook noodles or rice in it and finish with parsley instead of mint. The quickest route is ready-made stock concentrate with little pieces of meat and ham, with only egg and noodles added. Serve the soup really hot and add the mint right at the end so it stays fresh.