Classic Tortilla Soup

I like you.  I like you a lot.

Which is why I'm going to share this earth-shatteringly delicious, unbelievably simple, and surprisingly healthy Classic Tortilla Soup.

Are you convinced yet?

I got this recipe from watching Marcela Valladolid's Food Network show Mexican Made Easy.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.  Unlike Tex-Mex which tends to be heavy and laden with calories, her recipes are light, authentic, and simple.  And they always look delicious.  You can watch a demo of her making this particular soup here.

I'm probably the last person you would ask about authentic Mexican food (somehow I don't think my spring break in Acapulco senior year of college counts... it might even give me negative points).  BUT, apparently this recipe is about as authentic as they come.

So naturally I've made a few adjustments to it... but at least I don't think they compromise the integrity of the soup in any way.

The idea behind this soup is that the vegetables are blackened in a pan, pureed, and simmered with chicken stock.  It's really that simple.

I've tried blackening mine in a pan before, but since I don't have a cast-iron skillet like the one Marcela uses, it's nearly impossible to clean the pan afterwards.  Not ideal.

So instead I pop them under the broiler and let them blacken away that way.  I also have this theory that roasting the vegetables would be delicious as it would concentrate the flavors, but I haven't tried this technique yet.

SO, place an onion (sliced in half), 2-4 garlic cloves, a New Mexico Chile (sometimes I use jalapenos or pablanos), and 4 large plum tomatoes under the broiler.  OR blacken them in a cast-iron skillet.

Throw them into a blender (remove the peel of the garlic cloves but the skin can be left on the tomatoes and pepper).  Add about a cup of chicken stock and the secret ingredient: two corn tortillas.

Blend away until it looks like a thick tomato smoothie.

Simmer it with 4-5 cups of chicken stock.  You want it to simmer at least 30 minutes until it thickens.  It's even better if you let it cool at this point and allow it to sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Now add whatever garnishes you want.  Marcela adds avocado, queso fresco, Mexican creme, and corn tortillas chips that she fried herself.

I added tortilla chips that I bought from the store, shredded cheese, shredded chicken, corn, jalapeno slices, sour cream, and avocado.  But feel free to add whatever you want.  I think the tortilla chips are kind of crucial though (hence the name of the soup).

Try this and let me know what you think!

Classic Tortilla Soup
from Marcela Valladolid - Mexican Made Easy

Ingredients

Soup:

• 4 large plum tomatoes
• 1 small white onion or a 1-inch-thick slice of a large white onion, peeled
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 medium dried New Mexico chile, stemmed, seeded, and torn into large pieces
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 corn tortillas, torn into 1-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tortilla strips:

• 6 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch wide strips
• Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
• 6 to 8 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, optional for garnish
• Mexican sour cream or regular sour cream, for serving
• 2 avocados, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes or slices
• 1 queso fresco or mild feta cheese, crumbled
• 
  
• Directions
• Soup: Heat a heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, peeled onion, and unpeeled garlic cloves. Roast, turning frequently, until the garlic is soft, about 10 minutes. Remove the garlic when soft, but slightly blackened. Peel the garlic and set aside. Add the chile and continue to cook for another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the onion and set aside. Continue to cook the tomatoes until charred and blackened, another 5 minutes. Put the garlic, chile, onion, tomatoes, tortillas, and 2 cups chicken broth in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a large saucepan and add the remaining 4 cups chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Tortilla strips: In a medium, heavy skillet, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 1/2 an inch. Heat over medium-high heat until very hot, but not smoking. Add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

To serve, ladle the soup into 6 individual serving bowls. Serve whole chipotle chiles, Mexican sour cream, avocados, cheese, and tortilla strips on the side.

oo,