When I made those Baptized Chicken breasts (previous post) earlier this week, there were only two of us here and I had 5 breasts, so there were leftovers. One night I made a chicken and red pepper alfredo with pasta, which was easy and hit the spot.
The next thing I made was this creamy and a little spicy chicken and tortilla soup. Most tortilla soups I have seen add tortillas at then end. I took a cue from the Starch Based Soups lesson at Rouxbe Online Cooking School which used bread as a starch thickener. So I used corn tortillas at the start of the soup base as a thickener. The aroma of the fragrant tortillas cooking with the mirepoix was intoxicating!
Chicken and Two Tortilla Soup
by
Ingredients (4-6 servings)
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup white onion, diced
- 1/4 cup celery, diced
- 6 corn tortillas, diced
- 2 medium tomatoes, fire roasted and diced (substitute 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes)
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 8 cups water
- 6 chicken bullion cubes
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp green onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp cilantro, diced (optional for cilantrophobes)
- 1 Tbsp fresh oregano, diced
- 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
- 2 cups shredded colby jack cheese
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flake
- 2 cups crumbled blue tortilla chips
- garnish ideas include - cheese, cilantro, sour cream,
Instructions
- Fire roast your tomatoes on a grill. I did this using direct heat just enough to char the skins on all sides and then diced them up. Season them with a pinch or two of salt.
- In a large stock pot, melt the butter and saute the onions, celery, and diced tortilla pieces until the onion is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes (and any collected juices), chili powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Stir to coat and saute another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the water, bullion cubes, salt, and red pepper flake. Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the green onion, cilantro, and oregano. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup base to a smooth consistency.
- Add the chicken. Stir the cheese into the soup in small batches, until melted. Stir in the cream. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed.
- Serve with crumbled tortilla chips and any desired garnishes.
Powered by Recipage
You can use a can of fire roasted tomatoes but I had some ripe tomatoes so I just grilled two of them. |
The tortillas don't only provide a starch base, they build flavor from the bottom up. |
Stir the tortilla chips in so they soak a few minutes before eating. |
Amidst the final rush of the holiday season, this velvety soup was the perfect way to fill up on a cold night. If you like it even spicier, use a teaspoon of red pepper flake or more. You can also use regular corn tortilla chips if you can't find the blue ones, I just like the color they add and their taste is subtlety different.
I actually didn't intend for this easy soup to be a blog post, but when I warmed up this bowl for lunch today, I figured that I would throw it on here. It was too good, not to.