Rachael Ray - Chicken Tortilla Soup With Chipotle

K. Van Vleck's Note:

One of my Rachael Ray faves! So yummy-spicy-good!

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 lb chicken tenders
• 1 bay leaf , fresh if available
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil , 1 turn of the pan
• 4 slices bacon , smoky thick center cut, chopped
• 1 onion , finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves , chopped
• 2 chipotle chiles in adobo , chopped, plus 2 tablespoons sauce
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
• salt
• 4 cups lightly crushed corn tortilla chips
• 2 cups shredded fresh smoked mozzarella cheese or 2 cups smoked sharp white cheddar cheese , 3/4 pound
• 1 lime , cut into wedges
• ½ red onion , chopped
• freshly chopped cilantro leaf , for garnish

Directions:

1. Bring broth to a simmer and add chicken tenders, poach 6 to 7 minutes with a bay leaf.
2. While chicken poaches, heat extra-virgin olive oil in a medium soup pot or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp then remove with slotted spoon. Drain off excess fat, leaving 2 to 3 tablespoons in the pan. Add onions and garlic to the skillet and cook 5 minutes then stir in chipotles and tomatoes.
3. Remove chicken from stock, dice and then add to soup. Pass stock through a strainer then add to the soup.
4. Place a pile of crushed tortilla chips in the bottom of each soup bowl. Cover liberally with smoked cheese then ladle the hot soup down over the top. Serve with lime, raw onions and cilantro at table to finish the soup.

Reviews

[Fig Newton]

Outstanding!!! I made this as written, except that I put the cheese and the chips directly into the soup pot, vice the bowl. Also, no cilantro, but didn't need it. This was a great mix of flavors, not too much of any one thing. I was a little leery at first about using 2 chipotle peppers because I thought there would be too much heat and too much adobo flavoring, but I was totally wrong. The heat was just enough to notice, and all the other ingredients tempered the chipotle flavor. If there's any one flavor I missed, it was the bacon... but I used bacon bits instead of strips. Regardless, this is going in the permanent file.

[Zewbiedoo]

I could not find crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, so I used diced fire-roasted tomatoes with garlic and cut back on the garlic a little. I also couldn't find smoked cheese so I used extra sharp vermont white cheddar. The directions are a little vague -- i.e., when do you add the salt? What do you do with the bacon? I left out the salt and tossed the bacon in with the onions, and I used 2 chipotles but removed the seeds first, so it was not overly spicy. Overall, I'd say this tasted pretty good and was easy and quick to prepare. Next time, I would definitely put the chips and cheese on top instead of the bottom, because the chips immediately turned to mush. I would probably also try adding a little kernel corn for color and a bit of crunch. Thanks for posting!