Tortilla Soup with Chipotle Chilli, Tomato & Avocado (Sopa Azteca)
Rick Stein's Tortilla Soup, as seen on his BBC series The Road to Mexico, makes for a light but warming supper with flavours of chilli and tomato and topped with avocado.
From the book
Rick Stein: The Road to Mexico
Classic dishes you'll fall in love with
All the recipes from Rick's TV series
Learn to make authentic Mexican food
Introduction
As a restaurateur, I know how hard it is to persuade people to go for the soup. This is because often you get a bowl of just that. If you want people to order soup, you have to make it special by adding lots of garnishes or bringing to the table in a tureen or jug and ladling it out. In Mexico, as with so many other dishes, soup is all about the bits that you add – in this case, avocado, chilli flakes, coriander and often a lick of soured cream. It’s usual to make this with pasilla chillies, but I had some made with chipotle in a back street near Cholula Market and very nice it was too. I’ve also had sopa Azteca with extra shredded meat from a cooked chicken and even crisp pieces of chicken or pork skin. I often just order the soup off the menu and find it a perfect light supper all on its own.
Ingredients
| 8 | large ripe tomatoes |
| 2 | cloves garlic |
| 2-3 tbsp | lard |
| 2 | onions, sliced |
| 2 tbsp | Chipotles en adobo |
| 1 tsp | dried oregano |
| 1 litr | home-made chicken or vegetable stock |
| 1 ½ tsp | salt |
| 8 turns | black peppermill |
| 220g | cooked chicken, shredded (optional) |
| 4 x 15cm | corn tortillas, cut into 1cm strips |
| 500ml | corn or vegetable oil |
| For the garnishes: | |
| 1 ½ tsp | dried chipotle chilli flakes |
| 1 | avocado, stoned, peeled, diced and tossed in lime juice |
| 75g | Lancashire or feta cheese, crumbled |
| 100g | soured cream |
| small handful of freshly chopped coriander |
Essential kit
You will need: a liquidiser.
Method
Heat a dry, heavy-based pan and roast the tomatoes and garlic until charred. Set them aside to cool, then peel both.
Heat the lard in a saucepan and gently cook the onions until softened but not coloured. Add the peeled garlic and cook for a further 4–5 minutes. Add the chipotles, peeled tomatoes and oregano, then the stock and cook for 10–15 minutes until everything is soft and pulpy. Liquidise until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, add the shredded chicken, if using, and keep the soup warm over a low heat.
Pour the oil into a frying pan to a depth of about 2.5cm. Heat the oil and fry the tortilla strips in batches until golden and crisp. Remove the strips with a slotted spoon and drain them on kitchen paper.
Serve the soup with strips of tortilla on top and a sprinkling of chipotle flakes, diced avocado, cheese, soured cream and coriander.
