Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 ears of corn on the cob – cut off the cob but cobs reserved

5 cloves of garlic – minced (I put mine through a press)

1 yellow or white onion – diced

2 jalapenos – diced small

2 or 3 chicken breast – I usually make 3

4 yellow corn tortillas – diced into 1” squares

1 pasilla pepper – left whole but remove stem

3 tomatoes on the vine – diced small

2 TBS Oil

2 TBS tomato paste

2 tsp ground cumin

2 quarts chicken stock

kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and a bit of cayenne pepper

In a sauté pan, sear the chicken breasts on both sides with a little kosher salt, pepper and a bit of cayenne pepper in a bit of oil on med/high heat. Add to a large soup pot.

In the same sauté pan add a touch more oil and the 1” tortilla squares. Stir until they are slightly crispy and then add to the soup pot.

Same sauté pan… cool the pan and over low heat sauté the onions and garlic. Add to the soup pot. Throw the sauté pan in the sink and bring your soup pot over to start adding in all the goodies. Put in the tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, chicken broth, corn, tomato paste and cumin. Let the cobs and pasilla pepper just float around in the soup. We’ll throw those out when we are almost done.

I always reserve a few of the tomatoes, corn, and onions and jalapenos to add back to the soup after it’s blended. I want to add a can of drained black beans some day to see how it is but… those of you with kids may understand this… but my daughter doesn’t want me to change ANY of this recipe of mine.

Simmer and reduce by a 1/3… about 30 to 45 minutes. Make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Remove chicken and set aside. Throw away the cobs and pasilla pepper. Transfer soup to a heatproof bowl and let cool a bit before blending or it could end badly at this point. In batches, blend everything until it’s nice and smooth… then add back to pot. After all the blending is done, put back in the reserved veggies and dice the chicken . Add the chicken to the pot and bring back up to a simmer.

Dice some of your left over corn torillas into SKINNY little strips. They will crisp up better in the oven this way and taste ALMOST fried. Let’s face it…they are better fried. BUT, if you are like me and don’t want the mess, do them in the oven. This has nothing to do with health concerns. This much work… eat it how you like it! 350 degrees for about 20/25 mintutes. I like them really crispy.

I almost always double this recipe. It’s double the work almost… but we love it so much and I like to have leftovers when going to this much trouble. This soup is SOOO worth the effort. I have searched endlessly for a good Tortilla Soup. I am not a lover of brothy types. This one rocks! This is a really fulfilling soup that is thickened only with a bunch of veggies and a few tortillas. They say that is why it’s called Tortilla Soup. How cool is that!?

Enjoy!