TORTILLA SOUP WITH CHIPOTLE CHILLI, TOMATO AND AVOCADO
Rick is on The Road To Mexico in his latest book, bringing fresh, spicy flavours to our tables. This warming meal-soup is perfect for chilly winter days – adding leftover roast chicken or turkey is a great way to make it more filling. To make this vegetar
8 large ripe tomatoes 2 garlic cloves 2-3tbsp lard or olive oil 2 onions, sliced 2tbsp ready-made chipotle paste, we used Waitrose 1tsp dried oregano 1litre (1¾ pint) home-made chicken or vegetable stock 1½tsp salt 8 turns black peppermill 225g (8oz) cooked chicken, shredded (optional) Corn or vegetable oil, for frying 4 x 15cm corn tortillas, cut into 1cm strips for the garnish 1½tsp dried chipotle flakes 1 avocado, stoned, peeled, diced and tossed in lime juice 75g (3oz) Lancashire or feta cheese, crumbled 100g (3½oz) soured cream Small handful coriander, leaves picked
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 4-5min. Add the chipotle paste, peeled tomatoes and oregano, then the stock and cook for 10-15min 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 (1in). 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.
PER SERVING 532cals, 16g protein, 35g fat (12g saturates), 36g carbs (14g total sugars), 8g fibre
‘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’