Mexican Tomato Soup With Toasted Pasta

Submitted by shelteredcreature

"While visiting Mexico as a teenager, I found this rich and comforting soup to be plentiful and delicious in the tourist area at least. Not sure exactly how traditional it is, but it is very quick and simple to put together and loaded with tomato flavor and toasted, nutty pasta. If you wish to skip pureeing of fresh vegetables, I don't see why you couldn't substitute with a jar of your favorite salsa. I plan to try that myself next time just to see the difference. Hope you enjoy this recipe."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 1-1 1/2 quarts
• Serves: 2-4

ingredients

• 1 cup dry pasta, preferably small in size
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 small tomatoes, cored and chopped
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed
• 1⁄4 cup white onion, diced
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1 dash hot sauce

directions

1. In a 2 quart, or larger, sauce pan, heat the 2 tbsp of vegetable oil over medium high heat. Once oil is hot, stir in the dried pasta (small elbows or alphabet letters work nicely, but any smaller shape works). Stir frequently so that the pasta toasts evenly. It will become brown and very fragrant in about 5-8 minutes. Remember to check often so that pasta doesn't become too dark or burned.
2. In the meantime, in your blender (or with a stick blender in a large measuring cup) add the chopped tomatoes, garlic, and diced onions and puree until completely smooth.
3. When pasta is evenly toasted, add the tomato puree to the pan. Be careful, the puree will sizzle possibly splatter once it hits the pan. Stir gently until the pasta is coated in the puree. Add salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta soaks up the liquid and the mixture has reduced, leaving the pasta coated in a thick tomato paste-like sauce. Approximately 7-10 minutes.
4. Carefully add the chicken broth, or any kind of broth or stock you wish, and let the soup come to a simmer to finish cooking the pasta. Stir occasionally for about 15 minutes. Add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce and remove from heat. Serve as is or with some chopped fresh cilantro or thin sliced green onions.
5. -OPTIONAL- Add 1 cup of frozen sweet corn, thawed, 1/2 cup shredded carrots, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, or thinly sliced cabbage, fresh lime juice, shredded, cooked chicken or pork. Add when adding stock, for a more substantial meal.
6. We used a vinegary Jalapeno hot sauce and really liked it. This soup tastes best when made with ripe tomatoes, especially heirloom tomatoes. I used black/brown heirlooms and it was deeply flavored and complex.

Reviews

[mama smurf]

Made for Spring PAC 2014 and this is a tasty soup. Like "loof" I used orzo pasta and added corn which we had some left over from another dinner. So light and easy. The only thing I did differently was that I had two large roma tomatoes that I used and added some jalapeno to the mixture in the blender. Next time I think I will add some shrimp towards the end. Served this with recipe#245601#245601 and we had a great lunch. Thank you for posting.

 

[loof751]

This is a wonderful soup! The toasting of the pasta is what made this great; I used orzo pasta and the results were terrific. I did add some corn as you suggested and a generous dose of Tabasco. Thanks for sharing your recipe! Made for Spring Pick-A-Chef 2014