Sopa de Galets (Christmas Catalan Soup)
Sopa de Galets, a festive Catalan soup for Christmas in Spain, showcases large or small stuffed shell pasta in a clear broth. Simple, elegant, and loved by both kids and adults!
Catalans usually make this soup from a big stew, Escudella i carn d’olla, with pork, beef, sausages and veggies. For Christmas, they usually eat this soup as a starter and turkey, fish, or other birds as a second. They would keep the broth from the second dish, the stew, and filter it to make this Sopa de Galets as the starter of the feast. In other words, they use homemade ultra-concentrated broth for this soup; on top of that, the fresh meat hidden in the pasta will give some extra flavour to this broth. A simple, elegant and flavourful dish perfect to warm up the bellies of the whole family.
Grown-Up vs. Kid Version
In Catalonia, they sell gigantic shell pasta that takes longer to cook; these are way more elegant on the plate, the fancier version, let’s say. Simple, standard-sized shell pasta works better for the kids, although make sure to cook them separately. The stuffed meat will be cooked perfectly when it takes the pasta to cook, and its fresh aromas (parsley and fresh garlic) will also transcend into the broth! It looks like a simple pasta and broth dish, but deep down, it’s much more.
The Importance of the Broth
For this Sopa de Galets recipe, I highly recommend a homemade broth, a butcher’s broth or the best quality you can find. Too often, the premade broths are filled with salt and nothing else. Investing in a good, tasty, clear broth is essential for this recipe. The broth usually contains a ham bone, beef, chicken and veggies, so you can choose a simple, flavorful chicken broth as long as it’s tasty. I’m living in Spain, so for this recipe, I’ve used a good quality broth that was specially made for this soup.
Sopa de Galets
Ingredients
- 400 g Shell pasta small or large
- 2 l mixed meats broth (beef, chicken, pork) or chicken broth
Filling
- 200 g ground pork
- 200 g ground beef
- 2 garlic cloves mashed
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp breadcrumb
- 1 handful parsley
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a big bowl, mix all the filling ingredients.
- Using a piping bag or small spoon, add the filling to the shell pasta, pushing gently the filling in.
- Bring the broth to a boil, add the pasta following the instructions on the package.
- Serve with the broth.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Did You Make This Recipe?
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This looks delicious. I will buy the ingredients next time i’m at the supermarket
Hope you do! So simple to make and yummy!
So delicious and easy to make! I like using the small shells. A little more work filling them but easier to eat.
Yes, the big one are for special occasion, the they make quite an impression for your guests!
How elegant! I love hearing about holiday traditions from around the world. Did you know the Spanish also eat 12 grapes at each stroke of the clock going into the new year? So fascinating.
This soup is so lovely, it would be the perfect start to any dinner party.
Of course I eat my 12 grapes on NYE! In my place we have a lovely mix of cultures, and we love to do them all!
This soup made a great starter for a recent dinner. I used a beautiful, high quality broth like recommended and it turned out lovely.
Broth is the key!
wow these looks so delicious. i love how they are stuffed with goodies. Totally lovely meal the kids all love. thanks for sharing about this holiday tradition too
My pleasure, love to spread the love and yum!
If there’s one thing better than pasta, it’s stuffed pasta! I was unfamiliar with this soup, but I’m thrilled that I know about it now. Great tip re: the broth. In a situation like this you really want to maximize that flavour.
Hard to beat stuffed pasta! You are right Sean!