This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
A recipe for “sopa azteca” from the book In the kitchens of the worldby Marianne Lefebvre.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the soup
60ml (¼ cup) yellow onion, cut into quarters
2 garlic cloves, peeled
6 tomatoes
5 ml (1 tsp) salt, or to taste
3 chili peppers pasilla seeded dried (30 g or to taste) (optional)
440 ml (1 ¾ cup) water
90 ml (6 tbsp.) canola oil, divided
1 liter (4 cups) homemade chicken broth
4 corn tortillas, 9 inches (23 cm) in diameter
For garnish
100 g (⅓ cup) Mexican crème fraîche (or sour cream)
100 g (⅔ cup) crumbled fresh Latin cheese (queso fresco)
2 avocados, sliced
2 squeezed limes or 60 ml (¼ cup) lime juice
35 g (2 cups or 500 ml) fresh coriander, chopped
Preparation
1. In the blender container, place the onion, garlic, tomatoes, salt, 1 ½ chili peppers and water. Grind until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Sieve and keep only the broth. To book.
2. In a large saucepan, heat 30 ml (2 tbsp.) of oil over medium-high heat and brown the remaining chili pepper pieces. Add the tomato broth and chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. In a skillet, heat 60 ml (4 tbsp.) of oil over medium-high heat.
4. Meanwhile, julienne the tortillas. Once the oil is hot, brown the tortilla slices until they are very crispy. Place on absorbent paper.
5. To serve, first divide the tortillas among six soup bowls, then pour the soup over them. Top with a dollop of sour cream, 2 tablespoons (30 mL) grated cheese and ½ sliced avocado. Sprinkle with coriander and finish by pouring in the juice of half a lime.
Notes
You can buy the peppers pasilla online, in various Latin American grocery stores and in certain fruit stores. They also substitute for other mild dried peppers, such as chili peppers anchoOr nyora (small, round red peppers that are left to dry in strings). Fresh cheeses from Mexico (and several other Latin American countries) have the consistency of feta, but are much less salty. Although they are rarer than other varieties, their taste is well worth the effort required to track them down. But if you can’t find any at all, you can use feta that you have left to desalinate for 1 hour in water.
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