PASILLA POZOLE SOUP

When I was in Mexico late last year, I stuffed my suitcase with all kinds of food products that I can’t find here in New York. One older woman tucked in a corner of a market in Oaxaca offered a taste of her homemade pasilla paste. It tasted smoky and earthy and had a rich dark brown color. Of course I bought some and it’s been sitting in my fridge ever since. That is, until today. Say hello to my version of pasilla pozole soup. Fair warning – it’s got a bit of a kick.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 sweet onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 poblano pepper, diced

2 tablespoons pasilla paste (or any Mexican medium-hot pepper paste)

6 cups turkey bone broth (or boxed chicken broth)

1 14 oz can pozole

1 ear of corn, stripped, (or one small can sweet corn)

1 cup chopped cooked chicken

1 avocado, sliced for garnish

sour cream for garnish

3 corn tortillas for garnish

PREPARATION

In a dutch oven, heat olive oil. Sauté the onion until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add in garlic, poblano and pasilla paste, stirring for about one minute. Add in 1/2 cup of the broth to help dissolve the paste. Add in pozole, corn and chicken and stir one more minute. Pour in the rest of the stock, bring to a boil and then simmer for 25 minutes. Make sure that all of the pasilla paste has dissolved and that there are no clumps remaining.

While the soup is simmering, cut the tortillas into ½”-inch strips. Spray or brush lightly with olive oil. Bake them in the oven at 375-degrees until they just begin to brown and become stiff, about 5-8 minutes. You want the strips to have a good crunch factor.

TO SERVE

Ladle soup into a bowl and garnish with a dollop of sour cream, a few slices of avocado, and some tortilla strips.