Tortilla soup tastes like home to me. There are countless ways to prepare it and almost every home cook has their own recipe for it. My vegan version has a bit of roasted corn, dried pasilla chile and smoky chipotle. A flavorful and rich tomato broth is the base for the real mvp’s in this dish, baked tortilla strips, avocado, cashew sour cream, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. Warming, hearty and filling.
Ingredients
- 8 ripe roma tomatoes
- 2 tbsp diced white onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 dried pasilla chile
- 2 chipotles in adobo with 2 tbsp of adobo
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 cup corn
- 1 large carrot
- 2 potatoes
- 15 corn tortillas
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Avocado, cilantro, limes, cashew sour cream ( see recipe in previous post)
Preparation
Step 1 – In a non stick skillet dry roast corn until charred, set aside. Peel and dice the potatoes and the carrot, cook in salted boiling water for 12 minutes or until tender, drain and set aside.
Step 2 – cut open pasilla chile, remove stem and seeds, lightly toast on a hot comal or griddle until fragrant, careful not to burn it. Tear into pieces and place in a blender with 1 cup water, garlic, onion and blend until smooth. Chop tomatoes and add them to the blender along with the chipotle chile ( seeds removes), cumin, thyme and continue to blend until very smooth.
Step 3 – In a large soup pot heat 1 tbsp oil and add the blended mixture, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, add corn, carrots, potatoes, baking soda, 2 tsp salt, black pepper and cook another 20 min. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
To make tortilla chips slice corn tortillas into long strips, place on a large parchment lined cookie sheet, toss with 2 tbsp oil and bake at 350 degrees for 40 min turning after 20 min. Of course you can also fry them.
To serve place a few tortilla strips at the bottom of a bowl, ladle hot soup over them and top with avocado, fresh cilantro, lime juice, cashew sour cream and extra chipotles on the side for my spicy vegans. Enjoy!
-Mia
LemonVinaigrette 