I love mornings like the one today. My feet hit the surprisingly chilly floor next to the bed and I immediately begin stumbling blurry-eyed to my office to check the temperature outside. 45 degrees?! Holy cow, it’s winter!!

Before you roll your eyes and think, “45 degrees?! I mow the lawn in shorts in 45 degree weather!” remember that I live only about 15 minutes north of the equator

On cold days like today, I’m thinking about a warm, comfort-food style dinner before I’ve even pulled the box of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup cereal oatmeal out of the pantry for breakfast. Something warm, something I have to serve in a bowl and eat with a spoon, something like The Pastry Queen’s Texas Tortilla soup.

Festive and fresh enough for a warm summer evening on the back patio with fajitas on the grill and margaritas in-hand, this hearty soup easily fits the bill for a warm-you-up-from-the-inside dinner. It’s my favorite kind of tortilla soup – more “brothy” than the creamy version that I often see in most restaurants. Prefer a creamier soup? Stir a small dollup of sour cream into the hot bowl before garnishing. YUM.

Texas Tortilla Soup
8 plum tomatoes
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
5 cups chicken stock
1 dried ancho chile pepper
1 (15-ounce) can peeled tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne, for heat (optional)
3-4 cooked, shredded chicken breasts
8-10 oz corn, fresh or frozen (thawed)

For garnish:
1 Avocado, peeled and sliced
Tortilla chips or strips
1 plum tomatoes, diced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Sour cream

To make the soup:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the plum tomatoes in half. Spread 1 Tbsp of the olive oil on a baking sheet or pizza pan and arrange the tomatoes on top, skin side up. Drizzle the tomatoes with another 1 Tbsp of the olive oil. Roast the tomatoes for 35 minutes, until the skins wrinkle and the tomatoes are slightly brown around the edges.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy-bottomed, 4-qt soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and bell pepper and saute about 5 minutes, until the vegetables become soft. Stir in the chili powder and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, 1 cup water, and ancho chile. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover, decrease the heat and simmer about 15 minutes, until the ancho chile softens.

Remove the chile from the soup and pull off and discard the stem. Cut the chile in half and discard the seeds, if desired. (Leaving the seeds in makes for a spicier soup, I left them in.) Place the softened chile, the canned tomatoes with their juices and the roasted tomatoes (included as much as possible of the juices and browned tomato bits) in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Puree the chile-tomato mixture about 1 minute. Transfer the chile-tomato mixture to the soup and continue simmering, covered, about 1 hour.

Add salt and pepper to taste and ground red pepper (if using) along with the cooked chicken. If using fresh corn, cut the kernels from the cobs, add the corn to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. If using frozen corn, add it to the soup and gently heat until corn is hot. (If freezing, stop here and allow the soup to cool before transferring to “leftover” containers and freezing. It keeps for at least two months).

Ladle the soup into medium bowls. Lean 3 to 4 slices of avocado against the edge of each bowl, partially sticking out of the soup. Arrange the tortilla chips or strips in a similar way. Sprinkle each bowl with a handful of diced tomatoes, some cilantro, and shredded cheese. Top with a spoonful of sour cream. Serve immediately or cool to room temperature.

Makes 6-8 bowls
Adapted from The Pastry Queen, 2004.

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